Whiskey Spotlight: Hood River Distillers

0:00 On today's film in whiskey. We've got a full episode planned for you. We're trying five whiskies from a Hood River distillers while we talk about a really unique listener. Question after that, we're going to talk with the master distiller from Hood River, Joe O'Sullivan. That's all ahead on the film and whiskey podcast. Hey, everybody. Welcome into the film and whiskey podcast. I'm Bob book, I'm Reggie, and we are coming at you today with another special bonus. Episode in bonus episode Brad.

0:46 It is the best kind of bonus episode 1, where we have didn't prepare for, are, is one where we have very little to talk about, but very much to drink. So, we have five with He's in front of us today and we are going to drink all five of them in a row like like shot shot shot shot shot. And then we're and then review them. It'd be kind of weird. If I was like, we have five whiskies in front of us and we're gonna drink four of them. Pour one out for the homies. Alright, today we are highlighting Hood, River distillers. So, Hood River distillers is from Hood, River Oregon and it is actually like a Consortium Of multiple distilleries in the town of Hood River. So there's two distilleries one is called Clear Creek distillers.

1:37 And the other one is called Big gin Distillery, and then they kind of, like, lump themselves together and they offer their horror whole portfolio as Hood River distillers. So, the Whiskey's that were drinking today, both come from Clear Creek, Distillery or there at least marketed by them. So we have three bourbons and to single malts from highwomen River. I cannot freaking way to get into these Brad because they, they won gold or double gold at San Francisco. We've been hanging on to them since before, our San Francisco World Spirits episode. Because I've been so pumped for you to try, especially these American single malts, I really, really cannot wait to get into drinking these. Yeah, I am really excited.

2:21 Bob. I, any time a company is willing to send us five different samples of their liquor. I'm Just I'm along for the ride man. This is gonna be a good time. So we're drinking two kinds of whiskey and they have two different brand names, right? So the Bourbons that were drinking our bottled under the brand name, Trails End and the single malts that were drinking are distilled at Clear Creek Distillery and they are bottled under the name, McCarthy's, single malt. So I think today, Brad, what we'll do is. We'll start with these three Bourbons that come from Trails End. These are all Kentucky bourbon whiskey. So there's sourced whiskey. That is then finished. In Oregon and the first one we're going to be trying is the Trail's End eight year Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey, which is finished in Oregon Oak.

3:08 And Brad, as we get into drinking these three Bourbons, why don't you let our listeners in on what we're actually going to be talking about as we drink today? Yeah, we had a great question come in from one of our patrons known as on our Discord, the favorite Canadian and he asked us if we had an opportunity to Like, take a, take a mentor to teach us filmmaking? Who would we choose as our Mentor? Like, who would we want to sit at the feet of and glean as much wisdom as they could, possibly give us on the art of making a movie and honest about? I was like, that's a really good question.

3:50 I am excited to talk about that. Well, I think it says a lot about ourselves even more than the filmmaker we choose because you know, you could say Spielberg, you could say, We're say Z and they're two very different kinds of filmmakers and I think in a lot of ways when I think about myself making a movie, the first question I have is like what am I really good at and what do I think I could actually make well, or like do well as a director and what would I really need coached at? And I think the part where I would really need coached is where I'd be thinking, okay? What filmmaker is really good at doing that thing and could teach me a lot about that. Yeah, yeah, man. You're already like at the Peak at the The you know, things you're good at. So you just want to shore up some weaknesses as a filmmaker. Well, I mean I think about like Quentin Tarantino and how he was just like an extensive movie nerd. All he did was watch movies all the time to the point where he developed this encyclopedic knowledge of movies and I wonder like where did he get?

4:48 Where did he go to finishing school? You know what I mean? Like how did he actually get the know-how of the technical side of things because the images were already in his head? And so that's kind of what I'm thinking about today. Like, yeah, if you're Tarantino, what are the things that you are already good at Brad G? And what things would you need to actually get some Hands-On training at? All right. So, I will say that the question that came in from the favorite Canadian, it actually specified to that the filmmaker be somebody that we are profiling this season. So if you're not familiar with our podcast or if this is your first time this season of our show, we are looking at three to four films from a collection of different directors.

5:29 And so we'll spend a A few weeks with each director and then move on to the next one. Real quick Brad. I'll just give a rundown of who are directors are for the season, and then we'll go from there. So first we looked at four films from Steven Spielberg, we just wrapped up three weeks with Martin Scorsese. We are in the middle of three weeks with Edgar Wright. We're going to Pivot to a series on Wes Anderson. Then we're throwing at way back to Classic Hollywood. With John Ford, we're going to look at three films from Rob Reiner before going back again to Classic film with David lean were bringing it back in time for the new Avatar movie to look at for movies from James Cameron. We're going to finish out our pics with the Coen brothers, and then we're offering for filmmakers to our listeners to pick for our final miniseries of the season.

6:17 I will say, I think because those for filmmakers are up in the air, we probably shouldn't consider them unless you really want to Brad, but now we can leave them off. Yeah, I think we have nine to choose from otherwise and it's like, all right. Right? If you really want to be like no I don't want to learn from the Coen Brothers. I need to learn from Michael Mann instead. It's like okay dude you know I mean for it, right. Okay. So as we dwell on who we would learn at the feet of, let's get into this first whiskey from Trails End. This is that eight-year finished in Oregon, Oak Brad? What do you think of this one? Yeah, it's coming in at 90 proof and you can kind of tell on the nose. It's not an extremely hot whiskey.

6:58 Yeah, honestly. this is like a really nice classic bourbon knows, there's some caramel Oak vanilla and then I got a little bit of like popcorn butter and and really like the sweetness that's going on but there's like a depth to the sweetness that is that is really impressive and I really like yeah I think it's a really good word for it with depth because it's a very standard bourbon knows there's really no Peaks or valleys here, there's nothing interesting that makes you kind of cock your head to the aside and say, hmm, I haven't smelled that before. It just smells like a really solid all-around bourbon, but then you can tell with the intensity of those Aromas that this has been aged for longer even, even though it's been diluted down to 90 Proof. The fact that this is an eight-year bourbon is really, really apparent in the glass.

7:49 Yeah. And I think as you get into the palette and The Taste, it's just really beautiful, there's some vanilla there's caramel there Citrus going on. I I am really enjoying the palate. It's not like near the top tier of whiskey I've ever had but man, is it impressive? Yeah, I'm kind of with you, man. I think that the the nose was a little bit better on this one for me than the taste and the Finish were it's a little bit thin and it's a little bit too Oaky for me. There's like some really almost bitter notes on this towards the end and the alcohol actually really announces itself for me on the finish here. But overall, on the balance of things, I think, you know, if we were scoring this out in the four categories, since we're not including price, I would say it's like an eight and a half on the nose and then probably like six to six and a half on all the other categories.

8:40 For me, it's a really solid place to start this tasting but I'm a little more excited for the other two Bourbons in this lineup than I was for this one. I'm just going to let you know, man, because we always go out of 50. I just kind of give these General scores out of 50 because that's easier for my brain to comprehend the This for me here, I had like a little bit of an oatmeal cookie Vibe going on, and I was a pretty big fan of if I had to score it out of 50. I'd probably be right around like a 33, 34 out of 50. It's like a, it's just a really nice solid expression of a classic bourbon. Yeah, that's exactly where I am.

9:20 Like, I met a 26 and a half out of 40 and when you do all the math, coming out to a 33 out of 50 on this, a good place to start, maybe just a hair. Below where we would start recommending it. But again, like I think we're off to a really good start here Brad. Yeah, I think so too. And I've been thinking as we've been talking about the, this directorial decision. Can we just like throw out Scorsese and Spielberg because of how famous they are? Like can we keep this as a competition between everyone else? Oh, good question. Because I feel like there's a place where if you were given the opportunity, Tunde genuinely to pick between all of these and you didn't pick Scorsese or Spielberg that. Like a Scorsese would send a mafia hit on you like like no doubt and Spielberg would go and make a movie about how sad he is regarding it and really it would just be terrible. True.

10:19 So I like does it feel like they would be an obvious pick for obvious reasons. So we can almost like, set them to the side and be like, yep, you guys are special and Beyond everyone else. Yes. And we're just going to choose from among the rest of the I think that's fair, but as we push them aside into the fiery furnace here. Which one if you had to pick one, that would be like your go to. Who would you pick of those two? Hmm, I think I would pick Spielberg. I do too because Scorsese like this is about to get in a hot take territory to hit the hot take Button, Bob. I think that Scorsese is kind of a one-note director. No, come on, dude.

11:05 That's not. He he always in the sense that he always just has like one big point. He tries to make and he hits you with it. Over the head in the final scene and he's ID. Get it. Do you get the message? I'm trying to send. Yeah, I mean you could say that Spielberg's only had one theme for his whole career if you want to do that. And that's like I miss you daddy, you know? I mean like and I love Spielberg. I'm just saying, like, I think you're oversimplifying Scorsese a bit for me. I would pick Spielberg because of his his camera know how. Like the Spielberg oner is a thing for a reason.

11:46 And the way that guy And, you know, the funny thing about it is because Spielberg and Scorsese kind of came up through the ranks together and they hung out so much back in the day. There is a wealth of interviews where Scorsese talks about Spielberg and Spielberg talks about Scorsese. And I just came across this article where Scorsese was talking about Spielberg's, kind of like preternatural ability to walk into a room and look around and see the room from the cameras eye and be like, alright, I need a camera in that corner. I need a camera, right? The ground and I need a camera over here in this one's going to be on a dolly and that's how we're going to move this around. And he just knows exactly how to frame a space in camera.

12:27 And it's like this, this god-given ability that he has. And when I think about my own, like, what would I really, really need to drill down on to be a good director. I think Spielberg has that even more than Scorsese does? Yeah, I'm with you. I think their main reason I'd go to Spielberg is because of his Mastery of the and just, I just love his cinematography for sure. And so, yeah, Spielberg would be the overall Choice, which, which I think by saying that of the, the outset here, I think it gives us an easier opportunity to just debate about, like why we would want any of these other directors who are who aren't Spielberg. Well, as we have teased that, let's try these last two, bourbons, and then we'll come back. And one of us can give our pic and then the other one can Sounds good.

13:23 So the next one we're going to try is from Trail's End. It is also an eight-year bourbon. This one is finished in apple, Brandy barrels. Now we've tried Apple Brandy finishes before notably from Watershed Distillery here in Ohio, that one is a four-year whiskey. They did do a special release, I believe of a six-year that was finished in apple Brandy as well. This one's an eight-year bourbon definition Apple. Brandy barrels. And dude, I got to say this is even even though that first one was good. This is a huge step up from that one for me. That's interesting. Bob I don't know if I would say that, I think. Wow this one like really strongly takes on the Green Apple notes. Almost to the detriment of what was going on with the original expression.

14:10 Wow. So this one I will say also is 105 proof versus the 90 proof of the first one. One of the most interesting things for me was that this didn't have a ton of apple going on. For me, it was almost all black cherry and I know that it was picking up those notes from the Apple Brandy barrels. But I was expecting more of like a red, apple peel. If there is Apple here, I agree with you. Brad, it tastes more like a granny smith apple than it does like a red delicious or something like that. Yeah. And that's that's for me. There is almost just a little bit of that tart. Kind of sour flavor that you get with a, with a really Strong Granny Smith. Green apple feel that for me.

14:52 I'll just I'll just say through like yes there's some caramel I almost got a little bit of a clove spice halfway through its Okie in the Finish. But overall I just got a lot of tart, green apple. Hmm, and I wasn't wasn't super impressed. This definitely doesn't still doesn't tip into being very sweet on the palate. There was a lot more black pepper for me than there was on the first one. The Apple finally does present itself for me, on the finish, I like this a lot Brad and I can tell that you didn't, but I'm coming out to like a 37 and a half out of 50 on this one. If we're going to use our 50-point metric here. Yeah, I think I can tell that it is well, made like this isn't a low-quality whiskey by any stretch of the imagination. It's just not my cup of tea.

15:39 I think I'd give it like a 30-30 1 out of 50. Wow. All right. I'm surprised we were so divided on that one. Do you remember what you thought of? The Watershed the Apple Brandy Watershed. It's it's fine. Maybe it's the Apple Brandy thing. Maybe that's what you don't like here. Yeah, honestly, I think that might be it. I like, I like watersheds product. It's improved a lot in the recent years. I just, I think that that Apple Brandy just gives it a little bit of a Twist that I don't really enjoy. I totally get that there's certain finishes on scotches that we try that. Every time we hit, you know, whatever that Spirit might be. I'm like, do we have to drink it? Another one of those like, yeah, I totally get it, especially when you start getting into finished whiskey, there are definite flavor wheel houses. Yeah, for sure.

16:27 But I will say this 10-year bourbon. I really liked me too, man. So the last one from Trails End. Is this 10 year Kentucky Straight Bourbon? That is finished in Oregon Oak and it is 105 proof. So it's kind of The Best of Both Worlds of the first two that we tried. And I think it's kind of a no-brainer Sure. That this is the best of the three. Yeah, this one for me, had some really nice like almost like an orange e dark chocolate. Feel to it on the nose along with some caramel and and this one definitely gave me some brown sugar notes. That I was like, oh this is like Rich. There's a little bit of citrus going on some chocolate.

17:07 I really enjoyed the nose on this. Yeah, me too. Man, this this, it has again, that kind of standard bourbon knows, but the heat from Um, that increased proof point is present. Like even from the nosing on this where you're like, oh this is gonna be like I'm in I'm in the big boy leagues here now Mmm. Yeah and I really love it. It's just that bottling it at 105 proof. I think was the best thing they could do here. If this was 90 proof, I think it really would have undercut. A lot of the complexity that's going on here. Yeah, and I think that as you get into the taste in the finish here, man, there is some cheesecake. Going on. It was nice and creamy.

17:49 There's orange. There's a little bit of mint happening for me. Yeah. And then on the back end there's some caramel and Oak. The the minty orange flavors kind of mixed for me in the finish and got a little sour and that's like the only negative note I had on it, but honestly, this was a really beautiful expression coming out of Trails End and, and Hood River. I think I'd probably end up. It like a 38 39 out of 50 on this. That's about where I am to. And our notes are almost identical here on the finish. I wrote, It's like bitter mint. It's almost a menthol kind of thing going on for me. I was really shocked that it took on that meant equality. And then after I swallowed, and kind of let it sit on my palette for about a minute.

18:36 It almost had like a black licorice kind of thing going on too, which is neither of those are things. We usually get on Bourbons. I've heard us say both of those things before about rise. So this is a very Sting and I have to imagine it's the influence of that the Oregon Oak casks that they're finishing this in because it has an almost like woodsy Piney thing going on to it as well. I really like this, I would highly recommend this one. Yeah. And can I'll just say this for a second? Just so everybody knows. If you didn't know this already Bob and I live two hours apart, we do not drink the whiskey together except on very rare. Wonderful occasions. And it's like super affirming as a whiskey tasting. Esther to hear somebody else be like yep. I got the exact same thing.

19:21 Yeah, there's that little party that's like oh man I'm doing this right? I don't have imposter syndrome as much. Hmm. That's helpful. All right, man. Do you want to go first answering this? This big glaring question here. Yeah. I-i've been kind of browsing the rest of our directors? Hmm, there's a part of me that wants to say, I really like Bridge on the River. Kwai, I know how famous Lawrence of Arabia is and you were you've been raving about Brief Encounter. There's part of me that wants to go really old-school with David lean, but there's part of me that wants to go with Rob Reiner, like, he to me, feels like he can he's a chameleon, he can do almost anything, like he goes, you know, Princess Bride into a Few Good Men.

20:10 Like, that's, that's just crazy to me. I don't think I would want to learn from Wes Anderson, like he's just unique and odd and it would be a fascinating time. I have no doubt to hang out with him. The Coen brothers are just dark and I think I might like just have an existential crisis if I hung out with them for too long. Bob, I'm kind of between Edgar Wright. And David lean, which might be the to like farthest ends of the spectrum of what we are watching this season.

20:51 It's like extreme patients versus extreme hyperactivity. Yeah. And maybe that's why I'm drawn to both of them is because they're so different. I don't know what you give me your thoughts between the two and maybe then I'll make my decision. It's just, this is really hard to do without having watched all the movies yet, you know? Yeah. I think for me, I would probably lean towards lean and that's hey, and that means squared and that's partially because again, David lean didn't have like the visual effects elements that we have now and so, you know, you watch Bridge on the River Kwai and it's all real extras doing this stuff. And same thing in Lawrence of Arabia, the scale of what David lean did is incredible. And Lawrence of Arabia is the most beautiful movie I've ever seen.

21:39 In terms of the cinematography. I cannot wait for you to watch that movie. Edgar Wright's movies are and this is not a knock against him. I think, in a lot of ways they're made in the edit, you know what I mean? Like the editing of those movies is so vital to the way those movies work and that is a reflection of Edgar Wright to. Like he's really, really good at knowing exactly what kind of Rhythm his movies should have. And that's especially true with baby driver, like, Things happening on the beat to the music in baby driver. So they're very different kinds of filmmakers but I think if you're trying to get like how to make a movie with a camera and nothing else, like David lean is your guy. I think I'm with you, man.

22:23 I think I'd go with David Lee night. I do love the way you talk about the rhythm of Edgar Wright. I think he is one of the greatest rhythmic directors that I've ever watched. And if I wanted to learn Learn more about post-production. I think I would choose Edgar Wright, but, man, I know almost nothing about making a movie. And so, I think I'm with you, man. David lean is my choice. All right, man, let's go ahead and drink these two single malts and then we'll come back and we'll talk about my pic because I still haven't decided yet. So I need time to hem and haw. I love the way you said that. Well, we'll just come back and talk about whatever. I'm going to do. It almost had a little bit of a Christopher Walken. Bye.

23:07 I got a fever and the only prescription is more whiskey. The been carrying this gold watch. Alright so the first of these two single malts from the brand called McCarthy's is the McCarthy's pot distilled whiskey. This is aged 43 years in Oregon Oak. Distilled at Clear Creek Distillery in Hood River, man. This thing go ahead. Can I just say that like Americans Are idiots like our Flagship version of whiskey takes like 8 to 10 to 12 years to make. And I know that scotches are like all 16 and up but like the fact that they can make this pot still whiskey in three years and it's so damn good.

23:54 Yeah, dude. I just I'm like, you can make Scotch that's really young and it's phenomenal. You can make Scotch that's really old and it's phenomenal. And I just they just they just have something over on us, I think. I agree. I agree and like Scotch isn't even my favorite kind of whiskey but then I drink this American single malt and I'm like, yep. You can't make a three-year bourbon that tastes this good. He just can't know you can't, man. It's crazy. All right, so I have been waiting for you to try these four months now and I've been hyping them up and then kind of just like letting it die on the vine a little bit because I don't want to overhype you but I haven't heard what you think of these. So let's talk about the three year. One first. I really want to hear your thoughts Brad. Yeah.

24:34 This one comes in at 85 proof, the nose is like you get a lot of that. Malted barley, you get some sweet, orange, some fresh parsley and then you move into the palette. For me, it was the first whiskey I've ever had. Where I like took a sip and was like oh Karen, huh? Like there is some vegetable flavor and going on but I immediately was like yep, that's carrot. I don't know why, but it's carrot. Interesting. And then on the finish I got Like sweet mint and barley. My overall experience is going to get a little ethereal here. Bob, it was just a really like calm, soothing refreshing experience of a whiskey. I like it.

25:20 I thought you were going to get even more ethereal and be like, yeah, I was on the astral plane and I saw my ancestors and one of the things I love about single malt is that they can bottle something at 85 proof and it has a Ch2 the alcohol. And it is Knee Deep and complex, and it doesn't seem like they're cutting Corners. When bourbon is bottled at 80 to 90 Proof. I'm usually just like, oh, they're trying to stretch this liquid as far as they can, and, and price gouge me. And that is not at all the impression that I have ever gotten with any kind of scotch or single malt, including this one, like the note that I took on the nose was Pete and sweet. Like it smells like that great, Scottish Pete that we love but it has is very Nique sweetness to it that I couldn't quite pin down at first.

26:08 It reminded me, a lot of lays Mesquite, barbecue potato chips. Like it was like, barbecue potato chips and there was some like classic or oven-baked. I don't know. Who does oven bait. Come on, I'm just gonna eat a potato chip just be real with yourself. Like you're eating a piece of fried potato man. Just you're the one you're the one with the beat is I'm just that even if you're eating healthy Sorry that I care. Yeah, that's true. There's is some sugar Enos to it. I get a little bit of that pie ninis again on the nose. It's this really great mashup of things that I've never experienced together on a nose before, and I really like your note of carrot on The Taste because once again, it's one of those weirdly sweet notes that I can't quite pin down what the sweetness is.

26:58 And so I can't, I can't quite say that. I remember it tasting, like a carrot, but I, I'm not opposed to that. You know what I'm saying? Dude, this is just part of my personal life. Haley would always, like, berate me, not actually break be, but she'd always be like, how do you not? Like carrots. They're so sweet. And I'm like, what are you talking about? It's a vegetable. Like vegetables can't be sweets and like, as I've gotten older, I've come around and I'm like, oh yeah, like carrots are like kind of sweet are pretty sweet. Yeah, for sure. I was just like flabbergasted the first time, she said that though, because I did not, Grew up in a home where carrots were considered. Something's less we can see the sweet treat your mom.

27:41 Yes, out the baby carrots. Exactly. Alright. If you have to sort this one out of 50, Brad, where do you think he'd be? I think I'd be. Hmm, it's very nice and and gentle and I enjoy it. There's nothing that like punches me in the face with. Oh my God, this is amazing. I think I'd be at like a 38 out of 50. Yeah, I'm really close to you. I think I'd be right around a 40 like, Is really, really good. I think I might be just a bit over inflating, how good it is because it's an American single malt. And I haven't had a lot of American single malts that I thought were anything more than, very good. Yeah, but this is really unique and I think this is the kind of thing that like, is it as good as my favorite Scotch is probably not, but it's something that I would take to that tasting and say, like, this is what can be unique about American single malt?

28:33 Yep. Yeah, I am with you, 100%. ENT and then you jump into this six year single malt. From McCarthy's that is 100 proof and Bob like jumping up on the proof Point. Here was a phenomenal choice in my opinion. Absolutely man. The nose is interesting again to me because I got to know that I've never gotten before. And again I feel like I need to preface it because this is going to sound like a negative thing. I think sometimes you just you pick out notes and you're not saying that it smells bad, you're just trying to be accurate with like what it reflects back to you and that that has nothing to do with how the thing tastes. I got a whiff of, like, Like fresh out of the box, plastic, you mean, like when you like, like if you've ever built anything for your toddler that comes from like Little Tikes or something? Yeah, crack open the box.

29:23 And it has that like fresh off the assembly line full of BPA plastic like that. That's going on here for me. You know, I learned the other day. Bob, what's that little tykes headquartered in Hudson? Ohio? Yeah, I had literally, no idea. I also didn't know that. A put their plastic into whiskey. So good on Hood River. The micro Plastics are everywhere, man. Yeah. I love getting into the whiskey world because you have moments like that. Where if you're talking to non whiskey drinkers you like? No. No. I promise. It tastes like plastic and it's a good thing. They're lights, huh?

30:05 Oh you're an alcoholic. Got it Yeah, because like in the end that Bob, I think what you're describing is, not necessarily the fact that plastic tastes good. Its that there are good memories associated with, like, opening up things that are made of plastic. Yeah, I mean it's like that. Does that make sense? Yes. Like and again, it was more on the nose than the taste. I didn't get on the taste but like people love the smell of old books. People love the smell of pipe tobacco. People love the smell of gasoline, that doesn't mean that you To consume those things. But just to say, like, oh, this has like that note of gasoline on it, I understand that it would turn you off from wanting to drink it, but that doesn't, that doesn't mean it's a poorly made Whiskey.

30:50 In fact, I think it's actually a really interesting thing because you never get that on whiskeys. Yeah, I think that this six year, for me, it had like, some caramel apple things going on, but with like a lot more Apple than caramel, mmm. And then like, getting into the palette, there's that Apple going on. With like some mint and Dill and all sorts of just really nice seasoning type of flavors. And then, the Finish just sat on my palette for a really long time. I think that's where that those extra proof points. Kind of chilled, for a while was on the Finish. Yeah man, this is a really complex whiskey compared to the three-year and I like the three-year, I'm probably coming out at like a 43.

31:38 Not a D. Yeah, I'm definitely at, at least a 40 on this one and I think the lineup of all five was really, really great to me. I think the lowest I came out on any of them was the very first eight year bourbon. We tried which I still think I'd be above a 30 on So Hood River. Like, I cannot say thank you enough because Brad, I don't think you've actually seen the full sized bottles that they've sent us. But I mean, next time we get together, I'm going to have to bring a bottle down, and we're gonna have to like, drink, copious amounts of this stuff because I have so much whiskey. Key from them in my house right now, but all of its good. And that's part of why I wanted to devote a whole episode to them because it's very rare that we get this many samples from a Distillery and they're all, I mean, at least unique but all actually good.

32:25 Yeah, no you can tell that Hood. River is putting out some wildly good whiskey. That is really made at a high quality and I'm just super thankful that they send it out. Hood River, you're killing it out there. Keep up the great work, and we are going to continue to be your biggest fans. Absolutely? All right, man, let's finish this conversation out. As I look over this list, I think that there is one Clear Choice, since we've ruled out Scorsese, and we've ruled out Spielberg, and that to me is James Cameron, who is a director that really, I don't think gets the credit he deserves as a director and no matter how many YouTube videos people watch.

33:08 Where, you know, Patrick Williams or whoever says James, Cameron is a genius people just don't give him that credit and I go back and watch a movie like Titanic every now and then. And I'm like, how do people come away from Titanic? Such a simplistic reading of, oh, this is a movie with two movie stars, and it's a big-budget disaster movie, and it's nothing more than that because that movie is so expertly crafted. And there is so much technical know-how going on behind. That camera that I'm like, I don't understand how James Cameron isn't revered in the same breath as someone like Spielberg sometimes. And I think for me, the thing that links, the two of them together is that they both started out making a horror movies and because they're so good at knowing what truly terrifies audiences. They can leverage that, and they can make a suspenseful movie. They can make an, you know, a rousing adventure picture. When Titanic stops being This sappy romance and tips into Disaster Movie, it becomes a great movie. And you have that for me, the moment that Titanic really clicks into being a 10 out of 10 is when Jack and Rose are below deck.

34:21 And I think Rose is just like use the ax to cut Jax handcuffs on them and they're walking through the hallway that is like up to their chest and water and then the lights start to Flicker and you start to hear the creaking and groaning of the steel in that shit. As it's about to give way. And that's the moment, where for me, everything just turns into, like, oh crap. This is about to get really, really bad. And and there are very few filmmakers who can work on the scale of a David lean. But with the, you know, the suspense and the horror elements of a Hitchcock or Spielberg, and I think James Cameron does both of those just so well, Yeah, honestly, Bob, I completely dismissed James Cameron from the list, like, he's just not somebody. I'm interested in learning movies from and I, yeah, you've talked him up so many times and, you know, we've done alien and Titanic on the podcast, both movies that I really liked. But for some reason he just has never struck me as a director that I'm like, oh yeah.

35:29 Taught you know, top-tier a like you know a list type of Ha, so I'm curious to get into his movies. Yeah, I'm excited to watch Terminator and T2 and and definitely excited for a tower. Well, if I can correct you in real time, we have it, we watched alien, but that's a Ridley, Scott movie. I like James Cameron had nothing to do with that. He did the sequel, aliens, which were going to watch this season in that mini marathon. So yeah, dude, I'm really excited to watch those movies along. Beside you and see how those kind of directorial elements and flourishes come up.

36:11 So what a great question. I'm like I'm now this makes me even more excited to continue on this season 6 Journey with you. Yeah, super pumped for it man, but until then go out and buy yourself some Hood River whiskey, because they're just knocking it out of the park. All right, Brad, it's time for us to throw over to our interview with the head distiller from Hood River, Joe O'Sullivan. We finally get somebody to thank for all These great whiskey. So let's give that a listen. All right, Brad, we are here joined by Joe O'Sullivan. Who is the master distiller for Hood River distillers? Joe, we have just finished drinking through five different whiskeys made by your company.

36:53 So first of all, thank you for the buzz. It's been a really good one on top of that man. We literally we tried these as we were planning out the episode and just kind of said we have to get somebody from The Distillery on to talk with us because we need someone to Heap, praise upon and I don't think that I'm out of line here saying especially these two single malts are probably the best American single malts we've ever had on the show easily. Yeah. You know like we said the the Bourbons at they're making a really impressive but these single malts Joe you guys are just slapping out an organ. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

37:34 The McCarthy's just been in my life for almost 20 years now and it means the world to me. So It's that it's kind of finding its audience in the last year or two has been just worth all of the struggle and all the times that I've tried to convince people that American single malt can be as good as any other nations. Well, let's talk a little bit about that. What is your history in the industry? How did you get to be the master distiller luck? I think everyone forgets. That, that's the key to success is just luck and being in the right place, right? Time II was, I'm from Massachusetts. And I was Traveling around the country living in different places, Boise.

38:14 Idaho wasn't for me and then moved out me in the the woman I was seeing at the time we moved out to Portland and 2004 and I need a job and I had some carpentry experience. I have a science degree but I wasn't really looking to try to make money off that right away. Usually take some kind of find those jobs so I was just looking for a job, you hammering Nails basically and knocked on a door and this This very ornery tall skinny giant named Steve McCarthy answered the door and he said, this is Clear Creek, Distillery, you know, drop off your application and I for a moment I thought, well, this will be fun and it'll be kind of an interesting resume patter.

38:58 And I'll do this for a little while and see what happens, but he hired me on in 2005 as a guy who could fix barrels as he said, I don't really care about your biology degree. I just can see that you can swing a hammer. Is all that matters to me because Steve was a fantastic distiller. He's retired now. And Steve is a fantastic is still there but he was a terrible terrible Cooper. We still have some of his barrels that he tried to put back together again after repairs and their comically all over the place. So I lied to him and told him I knew how to fix barrels. And I've been working as a distiller ever since Man, what a story. So here's the thing when we first started trying to research out McCarthy's a little bit, I'm going to be honest, we hadn't really heard of McCarthy's until San Francisco happened and you guys want double gold there and that immediately put you on our radar and I started looking for okay, where's McCarthy's located and come to find out?

39:51 Okay, it's a brand name that is attached to Hood River distillers. All right, well, let me look up Hood, River distillers and then I find out that Hood River distillers is actually multiple distilleries. It kind of seems to be working together as like a Consortium. Can you? Yeah. Can you break that down a little bit for me? Yeah, so it's a really interesting history. Hood River distillers was started in 1934 by a couple of families out here in Hood River. And it was the first Distillery post-prohibition, and for the very beginning of their history, they were making really interesting apple and fruit Brandy's from the Pacific Northwest. But once Cold Storage came into play there, resource of cheap, apples kind of diminished. And as a result, they moved into value branded products and they're largely known across the Northwest for their Hood River vodka.

40:45 So if you talk to anybody in the Northwest, you say, hrd, vodka. They're going to tell you the story of the worst night of their life but they'll have the biggest smile on their face and I really Embrace that sort of History because that to me is amazing that you can give people that. That number may be Put that many stories, but in the 2000s, they started looking at returning to their Roots & Clear Creek Distillery which started in 1985 started in Portland, Oregon as the third craft distillery in America. It was Jermaine rib and st. George & Clear Creek, wow founded by Steve McCarthy, okay? And Steve was looking to retire, his daughter, you know, she's a biologist and she didn't really want to leave her career. So they sold the Business or your Steve sold the business to Ron Dodge, who owns Hood, River distillers. And we've been working for and with them ever since in the meantime, they've picked up what used to be known as captive, spirits and is now known as Big.

41:45 Jim distillery in Seattle and there's some minor Associates associations with a few other distilleries across the Northwest. But it's essentially what you said, it's a group of craft distillers, plus this Flagship larger value brand. That we're all working together. And what's really neat about it is that it's still owned by a small family here. In Hood River, it's still owned by the Dodge family. And they all work at the, they all work in the company. They all are very dedicated to the brands and it has a very small feel. And so while we may be on paper, what is thought of as the largest distillery in the Northwest, we actually have some of the less some of the smallest amount of capital.

42:32 When it comes to some of the other brands in Northwest, because we're not attached to any of the big diageo's, pr��ximos or any of those larger corporations. Yeah, it's still just small and family rooms. Yeah. And and it seems like with, you know, like you said you don't have the the capital of the capital B billion dollar industry. In a sense, you know there's a place where you you want to focus on what you really care about, right? And so, I think that you can kind of see that a little bit. Just where you guys are making your whiskey. And, you know, we're sourcing some Bourbon and doing stuff with it and making a good product. But you guys are like 100% from the start making your own single malts. And I think that's like a pretty cool deal. Like what do you think, caused you to focus on the area of an American single malt?

43:21 Well, it's really interesting because that so McCarthy's single malt was a Clear Creek brand initially and and since then we all have to be aware that all of of this is Hood, River distillers. It took a couple of years, I think for us to find ourselves within the family, but I was talking to one of the marketing leads this morning and saying really feels like we're all together now. And how great that is in. McCarthy's wasn't started by Hood over distillers, but was started by Clear Creek in the pre Hood, River distillers days and it was really on this. So, Steve McCarthy went to Ireland. And I don't know what he was expecting, but he was surprised to find, it was raining. And while he was there, he got to taste this isn't in their late 80s, he got to taste a lot of single-malt scotches, and at that time the concepts of the diversity of scotch wasn't really something that the American Consumer understood or knew about.

44:19 But he was early on to really get excited about this idea of terroir, this idea of regionality because everything he had done, had been a reflection of the Northwest and so when he wanted to do It's he said, I'm going to make an American single malt, something that reflects the terroir of America, and I'm going to use barley from Oregon and I'm going to get it. Heated with Washington Pete. And then, I'm going to age it in Oregon Oak barrels and only one of those things happened because the truth of the matter is there was no moulting houses when he first Design, This that were willing to deal with Pete in America and because the petrik getting into the equipment, Never really comes out sure.

45:03 Since then, there are some their Skagit Valley Mall in Washington who are fantastic and good, friends of ours and wonderful people. But on we've stuck with the original recipe which is actually getting our barley malted in Scotland and Port Allen sent to us here in the Northwest where it's Mash fermented and then turned into a single malt whisky which we still actually use organ. Oh On a boat. Poke, barrels for which are all made right in McMinnville, by Oregon Barrel works. Well, I mean, it's pretty obvious that you guys are putting an incredible amount of Labor and craft into this. And I think it's paying dividends at least on our palate right now. But like I said, we first kind of discovered the brand through the reading through the list of the double gold winners at San Francisco.

45:56 And, you know, we've talked with a lot of winners over the years, since we've started doing this podcast, and especially for, Or craft Brands. It seems to be something that's really appreciated when you look at you know the landscape of your sales and your footprint, what does winning a double gold kind of do for the brand? Well, I'll tell you, there's, there's awards that all the words are important, there's never going to be an award that we don't feel honored to get and put up on our Instagram, and keep our little Metals, but a double gold at San Francisco. Is it's a different thing. Hmm. And It's validation and it's confirmation that all of your efforts are worth it.

46:40 And when you get that response, when you get those critiques, when I've double gold is a big deal. That means every single judge awarded it gold. Yeah, nobody found a fault with it and to get that sort of thing. If from such a reputable competition, is you fly high for like a the next two weeks you just can't help it. You All that all of the Imposter syndrome that you deal with every day because I think we can all readily admit that we all deal with that is maybe just exactly and it's really, it's not real. And to me that is that's what those Awards can do on a personal level. From a brand perspective, it gets you attention. Yeah.

47:24 Then you can actually talk to people about what you're doing and you start to see that maybe this is a weird idea that you had to do a bar. Early focused single malt back in the 90s is starting to resonate now and even though that was a time where it was always just bourbon bourbon bourbon bourbon there. It's proof that the American distilling seen can be as good and as powerful as any other countries that to me is worth its weight in gold and to be part of the collection of distillers that are representing this country. So, well, gives me a Out of, well, gives me a lot of pleasure and a lot of humility.

48:05 You're gonna have to forgive me for making a complete, jump to movies here, but that's what I do. And your story reminds me so much of there's a movie that came out, I don't know. A dozen years ago or so called Bottle Shock. I don't know if you've ever seen this movie and I didn't, but other people told me about it. I do want to see it was all about the, the scene in Napa in the 70s. When they were kind of first discovered by a wind judge who then kind of did this huge publicity stunt. But you know in France and did a double blind tasting and all of the Napa wines one. And it was the first time anyone took. California wine. Seriously. And I'm just kind of wondering, like, have you experienced that a little bit with McCarthy's like our.

48:47 Do you find that the world of scotch is more welcoming in general to American single malts and or you know, do you see the respect coming even from across the pond now? Yeah, absolutely. I think initially. I will tell you though. That the first International respect re received didn't come from across the Atlantic, but across the Pacific, the interest that we've seen in McCarthy's out of Japan and Korea has been phenomenal. And I wish we could produce, I wish we had gone back in time and produce more for now. So we could fulfill these orders that we want to place on an international basis. I really think that the European approach to single malt in American single malt specifically is going to go off without a hitch, because the one thing that kind of sores and aficionados and members of whiskey lodges across the World.

49:45 All agree on is that it's the heart that you put into it and it's the intention that you have not necessarily the nationality around it because for all of the good spirits that are produced in your own country, we all know that there's one's just right down the road that don't really hold up, you know, to what you want it to be anywhere either. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Joe, it's absolutely impressive. What you guys are doing and I'll just I'll just flat out. Ask a man. What movies have you been? Watching lately. What's been getting you going? Oh well, we're getting into, we're getting into Halloween season. I, that is my holiday. I want to do Halloween cards every year, I decorate my house, really ridiculous.

50:26 So I'm basically polishing up my shutter membership pretty aggressively right now. I had the last movie, I watched was glorious, which is pretty great on that St. Mod was really, really good as well. That's a heavy one man. Yeah, no, I don't typically don't go too light so those Really, really great. Every year I do re-watch one of my favorite movies, which I mentioned off off, recording to you all, which is a third man, that Carol Reed film. So that's a absolute regular. It's probably going to be coming up. Usually do that one around Thanksgiving. So those are three that I've been, I've been really, really into right now. We have not done the third man on this show yet and so when we get around to it, I might have to tap you as a guest. Host, if you're willing to come on and drink whiskey, and talk about the third, man with us, I Could talk about the third man for a long, long time.

51:16 I mean, how it's Joseph Cotten, it's Orson Welles. It's Carol Reed. It's got one of the greatest. It's yeah. The guy who caught the clots clocks, Beach, the Anton, Anton Vargas zither music. It's just the best not to mention. It's one of the most harshest takedowns of human morality in film in a movie. That's genuinely. Very funny. It's just such a great movie. Yeah, for sure, man. All right, Joe before we let you go today. Can you tell us? What's coming down the pike here? What's next for Hood? River and McCarthy's. All right, so big news, we just today. Bottled are Pedro, Jimenez BX, finished MacArthur six-year McCarthy's. It's, I going to be flat honest with you, it's me and my head distiller, Caitlin Bardot, met who I got to give a shout out to you because she's great.

52:06 We think it's the best thing that we've ever done. So in 18 years of making McCarthy's, this is going to be my own person. Final favor release and then short of that, you know, we're always playing around with specialty barrels and single barrels. So if you live in the Northwest and you got a local liquor store, see if they got some sort of Single Barrel program going with this because it might be something really cool. It might be a Djinn finish, it might be a rum finish, you never know. Joe, we cannot thank you enough, man. And I mean it, when we say Brad and I have been raving about this stuff to each other will just send text at random times of day and say, hey, remember that six-year McCarthy's. We just had it instantly, it's so good. And, you know, it's not often that we meet someone and then 15 minutes later are inviting them to guest host on the show. But listen, if your knowledge of the third man is anywhere near your knowledge of how to make single malt. You are welcome back.

52:59 Anytime on the show at all plants. I think my knowledge a Graham Greene novels and films based on his stories, ours is even bigger than my knowledge of single malts. Oh yeah, have me on. I love it. All right, I'm going Distillery. If you guys are ever in town I want to fly us out. We're game. We're ready. Oh yeah, I got that in my budget, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, everybody. This has been Joe O'Sullivan from Hood River distillers. We will be back on Monday with another regularly scheduled episode. But until then, I'm Bob book, I'm Brad G and we'll see you next time.