The Bourbon Resource: August 2026
Uncle Nearest mess, disappointing Anthology secondary, 5 questions with Dave Bob Gasper, bourbon I forgot I had, and more.
A NOTE
Hi all. Thanks, in part, to recommendations from publications like Knicks Film School, Tropic Press, and Bourbon and Mead, The Bourbon Resource now has 1,395 followers, twice what we had a year ago. That’s just on Substack. Add in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and we’re north of 2,000. For those who care about such things, we also run a strong and consistent 50% open rate. Not bad for a small publication that grows organically.
With so many new readers I wanted to take a moment to note what you will find here and what you won’t.
You will find analysis of industry news, reviews, interviews with industry leaders via the “5 questions” feature, secondary market information, an annual gift guide that posts in November and the Bourbon Resource awards in December.
You won’t find a list of every new release or reviews of distillery tours. Lots of people do that, and our friends at Bourbon Obsessed are the best at it. Check them out for that info.
Thank you, every one of you, for supporting a passion project, taking time to read, and sending me notes and tips on bourbon. I appreciate it.
THE BOURBON RESOURCE NEWS
The Uncle Nearest saga will drag on for years
The mess involving the bankrupt distillery Uncle Nearest keeps getting worse. A court-appointed receiver fired founder and CEO Fawn Weaver and her husband, Keith, and is now digging deeper into the company’s finances. The Weaver’s late last year filed a civil lawsuit alleging their former CFO, Michael Senzaki, had committed fraud that financially harmed the company. The court receiver, Phillip Young Jr., recently noted, in court filings, that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York have each issued subpoenas in the case. Young has questioned the financial oversight of a company that amassed more than $200 million in debt and, a court claims, has made some dubious financial decisions. If you have a free month, you can read the reems of court filings here. This New York Times overview provides a (much) shorter explanation.
A friend of mine said he was going to buy as much Uncle Nearest as he can under the theory it will be more valuable if the company folds. My advice: Don’t. Kentucky Owl didn’t appreciate when it closed. I picked up a bottle for $150, less than half its MSRP. More importantly, Uncle Nearest isn’t that good. If you like it, great, but it’s not an investment.
Uncle Nearest continues to operate at a loss as Young prepares to sell company assets and possibly file for bankruptcy, which the Weaver’s can’t do because a judged ruled they don’t have the authority to do so. All the lawsuits, twists and turns means this won’t be resolved for years.
Brown-Forman tells Sazerac, not interested
The Brown-Foreman Company rejected a hostile takeover bid from the spirits conglomerate Sazerac when it rejected an unsolicited offer of $32 a share. That share price puts the Brown-Forman value at $15 billion. A press release said the Sazerac offer was “not actionable,” corporate jargon for “thanks, but no thanks.” Brown-Forman, the maker of brands that include Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniels, pursued a merger with French company Pernod Ricard that would allow the family to maintain a role in the new company while gaining some cash, but that effort collapsed.
This doesn’t mean the end of efforts to merge or acquire the family-owned Brown Foreman. It’s whiskey business sales were up +3% year over year and while that’s not exceptional growth, it’s a lot better than a number of struggling companies.
The merger and takeover attempts comes against the backdrop of change. Brown-Forman’s CEO has announced he will retire and the company has sold two of its cooperages in the last two years. The investors report doesn't show year over year volume which would provide a clue on whether Brown-Forman has decreased production or moved it elsewhere.
The Four Roses Anthology secondary has disappointed
Last month, I wrote about the potential cluster involving the Four Roses Anthology series, the much-anticipated release that cost $500 a bottle. The good news: There were apparently plenty of bottles to go around. The bad news: Reports say it was a disorganized mess, with cars rolling through the distillery gate at 11 p.m the previous evening for the 6 a.m. stated time to line up. By then, there were already more than 500 people waiting. Various reports said buyers who showed up as late as 11:45 a.m. to much shorter waits were able to score a bottle. For those who thought they were going to make a mint on the secondary, they’ve been disappointed, with prices in the $1K to 1.25K range. I would rather pay the extra $500 (I won’t) then go through all of the hassle of camping out overnight.
Bib & Tucker releases 8-yr-old bottled in bond bourbon
This is exciting.
Small-batch Tennessee bourbon brand Bib & Tucker has launched its first-ever 8-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon with an MSRP of $65. Here’s what the press release says about the high-rye product:
Aromas of vanilla custard layered over seasoned oak deliver a warm, cream-like sweetness balanced by mature wood spice. An initial wave of crème brûlée, leather, and hickory is followed by subtle hints of dried apricot and honeysuckle, with a mouthfeel that is structured and complex, demonstrating depth without overwhelming sweetness. The finish is long and warm, a backbone of sweet oak with lingering notes of allspice and orange blossom.
I have the 6- and 12-year products and like them both, though I prefer the dry/grassy notes of the 6-year. I hope to have a review on the B&B soon.
Bourbon I forgot I had
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream
Every time I dig through my various cabinets I always go, “huh,” because I find something from years ago (though I can’t tell you how many years.) My latest find was the Redwood Empire Pipe Dream.
The Vallejo, California-based distillery produces more than a dozen bourbons and ryes. I was surprised to see the brand on the shelf, and after retasting it, I'm surprised I had it hidden.
Pipe Dream is a solid, straight forward bourbon with the vanilla, caramel and oak notes we expect. The nose is deceptive because it’s light and unassuming, but the pleasing caramel and the oak on the palate provides that classic profile. At 90 proof, it’s an easy drinker, and at $33, a cost-effective one. I’ll finish this bottle and get another and am curious enough now to try their other products.
5 questions with … Dave Bob Gasper
David Gasper, the head distiller at the Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company, has one of the more fascinating stories you’ll hear. He started as a bartender, went into education, spent some time in Russia and moved to China to teach soon-to-be graduates the skills they needed to succeed at universities overseas. There, Dave Bob, as he’s called, got in the barbecue business before he worked in sales and marketing in Asia for Lexington. That’s a long and circuitous road to becoming a head distiller.
You started as a bartender and became a head distiller. What was that journey like?
When I was 19, I started bartending at a little dingy motel. I got the job there because I was underage and it was the only place that would hire me, and I really wanted to be a bartender. It was a crappy, little bar that sat eight people inside of a crappy motel. But it was very interesting learning and tasting experience. Rum and coke would be the fanciest thing we were making. I moved to China and within months started bartending at two bars. That’s kind of how my cocktail career started. I did that for years and was a high-level professional, award-winning bartender, cocktail judge and did competitions. You train your palate and sensory very seriously especially for these competitions.
What’s a typical day like for you?
Let’s say it’s a Monday. Right now we’re extremely busy with bottling, so I’m going to come in between 5 and 6 a.m. I’m going to check on our bottling team and see what they’re getting ready to do. If it’s a day of sampling and blending, I want to do that right in the morning. I don’t eat breakfast; I won’t eat until 9 or 10 a.m. because I want my palate clean. I’m probably sipping and spitting on bourbon and whiskey and rye around 7 a.m., whether you love it or not. There’s days you’re excited for it, and days where that’s the last thing you want to do. I could be giving a private tour, helping on the bottling line; we bottle everything by hand. So it’s summer, so we’re not distilling. It’s too hot. We’ll lose hundreds of pounds of product, so we take a break and that’s quite normal for different distilleries to do that. So really it’s me maintaining and cleaning and taking care of our open wood fermenters, cleaning different equipment, cleaning our dual copper pot stills, making everything is maintained and taken care of properly. So it’s a mix between wearing a fancy hat and getting dirty.
What are the most difficult components of the whiskey industry?
The blending side and creating that final product to be bottled. The most difficult part about that is time management and multitasking because here’s a lot of components. You’re relying on your sales, shipping and bottle production teams to move the product. I need time to microblend and taste, on top of dumping those barrels, proofing them, agitating them, stabilizing them, and letting them rest before going to bottle. That’s the most difficult for me, the communication, multitasking and time management to create the bourbon and whiskey with our entire team of production to sales.
What do you like to sip and enjoy at the end of a long day
On a hot day after a hard week, I’m going to jump in the pool and I want to drink our brand new Bourbonola tropical style banana seltzer. It’s 8%, but it’s refreshing with banana, mango, pineapple, and it pairs perfectly with the bourbon notes of some added ginger and cinnamon. So I want that one of ours. And then, again, it’s warm right now, a white wine or tiki cocktail, probably something new world, New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
You’ve been to so many places and tried so many different foods. What do you like to eat?
You know, you want what you can’t cook. That’s how it should be. I can cook a mean smash burger. Even though I do like going into smash burgers, I’m going to want something Asian. Sashimi, sushi, Bahn mi and xiao long bao a mix of China, Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam; and Portuguese Egg Tart would go well with one of our cask strength series that has more of that brown sugar, caramel, honey sweetness on it.
With the banh mi, there’s going to be a little bit of spice and you have that notes of citrus and vegetables and those fatty meats. I would want our single malt whiskey to go with that. The sushi, probably a highball.
The Bourbon Resource Bourbon Battle: Old Grand Dad 114
A few months ago, Old Grand Dad released its single barrel 114 proof, and I was a skeptic. The 114 batched version has long been one of my favorites, and I didn’t see a need to pay more money for the single barrel.
Was I wrong.
My friend Ted Welch brought over a taste for me to sample, and I surprised at the difference in the pours (maybe I shouldn’t have been since one was a single barrel.)
The single barrel is light and sweet with a hint of cherry on the nose and it’s also lighter in the palate. The flavors are about the same except for that lingering cherry, which I find refreshing.
The 114 batch is big, rich, maple and brown sugar treat that will make you warm inside. It has more heft than the single barrel.
I like them both and will buy them both because they’re different enough to warrant the reasonable investment. Two good bourbons for roughly $85 is a good deal.
THE BOURBON RESOURCE REVIEW
Yellowstone Small Batch Bourbon
MSRP: $45
Mash bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Proof: 107
Yellowstone Small Batch Bourbon summary: A good daily sipper
Yellowstone Small Batch Bourbon. Let’s taste it:
🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn glass
👉🏻Nose: Light and sweet, pepper, corn, vanilla. ethanol
👉🏻Taste: Vanilla, pepper, caramel, honey
👉🏻Finish: Warm, rye spice, vanilla, honey
History: Yellowstone introduced this expression in 2025 as a permanent release. Small Batch is aged six years and the only variety in the Yellowstone portfolio to feature an age statement on packaging, according to a press release.
Summary: I’ve always found the standard Yellowstone bourbons —- the select, rum cask and toasted —- too thin. There’s a market for these lower priced offerings, but I’ve long wished there was another bourbon with more heft that didn’t make me go all the way to the marvelous Yellowstone 10 and it’s $100 price tag. I got my wish with the Yellowstone Small Batch Bourbon. It’s heavier with great balance. The caramel-honey combination is a treat that bursts at the end and creates a long finish. The spice throughout balances the sweetness and provides a nice warmth.
Conclusion: Good job by Yellowstone. It filled gap in it’s offerings that needed a mid-tier and more substantial bourbon. The taste and price are right.
That’s it for this month! The New York Knicks won the NBA championship, and for the last five summers I’ve written content for Knicks Film School. You can check it out here.
And our friends at Bourbon Obsessed have a tremendous catalog of bourbon and distillery reviews. You can see more from them here:
I do my best to catch typos, but am not always successful. See one? Let me know.
Ray Marcano writes and publishes the Bourbon Resource monthly. He’s a bourbon lover and long-time journalist who freelances for some of the country’s largest media brands. He’s the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, a Fulbright fellow, and has been named best columnist in the state of Ohio two straight years (2025/26). He also covers Fine Wine and Dining in Ohio.
Great publication
I'm not even a bourbon drinker, but I am a huge fan of this newsletter as an exemplar of how a highly skilled journalist can apply his impressive talents to a niche interest to create a high-quality publication that's such an entertaining, informative, and authoritative read. Congrats on your readership growth, Ray!