Bourbon Bytes Podcast

It’s game night on Bourbon Bytes! Old Fitzgerald teams up with Jonathan Adler for a $425 backgammon set, Bib & Tucker launches a bourbon-themed Monopoly game, and Clifton reviews the new Dragon’s Milk x Dungeons & Dragons Blue Dragon Bourbon. Plus, Old Forester’s new 12-year decanter, Booker’s Southern Thunder, and MGP’s surprising name change. The 100-proof mead-cask-finished bourbon earns an 8/10, but is the $165 collectible package worth it?

I review the 2026 Russell’s Reserve 13 honoring Eddie Russell’s 45 years at Wild Turkey. Does this $200 bourbon live up to earlier releases? Plus, Single Rickhouse Camp Nelson D, affordable bourbon award winners, the return of Laddie Rye, Frey Ranch’s latest experiment, and bourbon-inspired dog treats.

This week on Bourbon Bytes, older whiskey is getting more affordable with new releases from Copper & Cask, Starlight, and Whisky Craft. Clifton also shares an encouraging update following the Glenns Creek Distillery fire and covers The Dalmore’s new 18-year Cigar Malt. Then he reviews Penelope Cigar Sessions Chapter 2, pairing the $80, 117.4-proof whiskey with an Alec Bradley Black Market cigar and discovering why it earns 6/10 alone but 8/10 with the cigar.

Dark Arts unveils a $500 19-year Mizunara-finished bourbon, Baker’s 13 returns, Willett takes Pot Still Reserve to cask strength, and a Lord of the Rings whiskey arrives from New Zealand. Then Clifton reviews the new $30 Bulleit ’87 bourbon-and-rye blend — and shocks himself by giving it an 8.5/10.

The whiskey world gets weird this week with cinnamon-infused Booker’s rye, a 23-year component in Little Book Infinite III, Chicken Cock’s vintage-style decanter, a bourbon with a Braille label, and an actual venison-flavored whiskey. Then Clifton reviews Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Volume 1, a 119.4-proof wild-cherry-wood-finished bourbon that surprises him enough to earn a high score.