Bourbon Local

PT Holding, LLC

Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture show with bourbon as the thread, not a bourbon review show. Host Phil Taul sits down every week with Jess Zimlich, the Bourbon Insider, and Jon O'Brien, the Bourbon Bodhisattva, for the people, places, stories and events behind the bottle: guests from inside the industry, Insider Intel, Buy Try Pass, the Dharma Dram, and what's happening around the Commonwealth. Live Sundays 9 PM ET, then here as a podcast. Sign up free at bourbonlocal.com.

Episodes

  1. Sep 21

    Episode 4: Why Bottled-in-Bond Exists, Sazerac's Big Month, and Come Back Next Week

    You can't see methanol, smell it or taste it. That is why Bottled-in-Bond exists. Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture and community show with bourbon as the thread: host Phil Taul with Jess Zimlich (the Bourbon Insider) and Jon O'Brien (the Bourbon Bodhisattva). This week: the cold open follows an explorer counting down on TikTok to kayak the Congo in an inflatable kayak. Bourbon & Beyond weekend in Louisville, and why the festival reroutes flight patterns so no plane crosses a set. The Icebreaker Round: what a good host does the moment you walk in, and what your first drink order tells a bartender. Insider Intel with Jess: methanol poisonings abroad, and how E.H. Taylor and honest distillers got the Bottled-in-Bond Act passed in 1897, nine years before the FDA, plus the tax strips that sealed the cork. A new segment, Three Sheets: Sazerac's month, Canada's alcohol ban and the door it leaves open for whiskey, and a tequila lawsuit that asks who protects the words on a bourbon label. Not Bourbon, But: Mullet Reviews, Bourbons Bistro, The Local Butcher in Elizabethtown, Bourbon Through Bluegrass at the Frazier Museum, and both Kentucky teams beating Texas teams. TRY, all bonded: Old Grand-Dad Bonded, Jess's Starlight Distillery breast cancer release picks, and the first release of Leopold Bros. Three Chamber Still Rye. Pass the Pour: Bardtenders. Phil pauses for Gary Gayheart of Buffalo Trace, and Jon's Dharma Dram tells the Elmer T. Lee story and the four words that started it: come back next week. Chapters (0:00) Cold Open: A Kayak, the Congo and Some Hippos (6:46) Welcome + Bourbon & Beyond Weekend (9:46) Icebreaker Round (15:48) Insider Intel with Jess: Methanol, Bottled-in-Bond + Tax Strips (27:40) Three Sheets: Sazerac, the Canada Ban + Costco's Tequila (32:47) Not Bourbon, But: Mullet Reviews, Bourbons Bistro, The Local Butcher + Kentucky Beats Texas (47:08) TRY: Old Grand-Dad Bonded, Starlight Bottled-in-Bond + Leopold Bros. Three Chamber Rye (54:55) Pass the Pour: Bardtenders (57:14) Dharma Dram with Jon: Gary Gayheart + Come Back Next Week (1:04:02) Last Call + the Closing Clap Read the episode article and sign up free for the weekly recap: https://bourbonlocal.com/podcast/bl-s2026e04-pillar/ Watch the video version on YouTube: [paste YouTube full-episode URL] Instagram @bourbon_local, everywhere else @bourbonlocal Bourbon Local goes live every Sunday at 9 PM ET. Recorded live September 20, 2026.

    Episode 4: Why Bottled-in-Bond Exists, Sazerac's Big Month, and Come Back Next Week

  2. Sep 16

    Episode 3: Triple Char, a Pigsty Full of Whisky, and Two Kentuckys on One Saturday

    Two things happened in Kentucky on the same Saturday. One had 500 pound barrels, the other had pawpaws. Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture and community show with bourbon as the thread: host Phil Taul with Jess Zimlich (the Bourbon Insider) and Jon O'Brien (the Bourbon Bodhisattva). This week: Jon opens with a tribute to Dolly Parton and her Imagination Library. Jess brings back a firsthand report from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival's 35th year in Bardstown, tickets that sold out in eight minutes, and the question of whether locals have been priced out of their own festival. Meanwhile in Louisville, the fourth annual Pawpaw Festival. The Icebreaker Round sends you two hours down the road for a burger shack that closes the minute it sells out, and calls the mint julep what it is: a lawn in a cup. Insider Intel with Jess: barrel char explained like a Brita filter, what "triple char" really means on the Old Forester 117 Series, real char times from inside a cooperage, and the Elijah Craig burned barn story. Not Bourbon, But: an 81 year old English farmer with 5,000 bottles of whisky in a converted pigsty, Street Kitchen in Elizabethtown, and running into Jim Gaffigan in Louisville. TRY: two Dark Arts Whiskey House festival releases, a 19 year finished in Mizunara oak and a 13 year finished in French oak, plus Jon's 11 year single barrel at 139 proof. Pass the Pour: The Black and Brown Podcast. Dharma Dram with Jon: a return isn't going backward. And Last Call: Bourbon and Beyond and the closing clap. Chapters (0:00) Cold Open + Welcome to Episode Three (4:25) Spotlight: Kentucky Bourbon Festival Weekend + the Pawpaw Festival (11:20) Icebreaker Round (16:32) Insider Intel with Jess: Barrel Char + Old Forester 117 Triple Char (32:51) Not Bourbon, But: A Farmer's Whisky Collection, Free Burgers + Where to Eat (39:52) TRY: Festival Releases + Dark Arts (48:54) Pass the Pour: The Black and Brown Podcast (50:39) Dharma Dram with Jon: A Return Isn't Going Backward (57:08) Last Call: Bourbon and Beyond + the Closing Clap Read the episode article and sign up free for the weekly recap: https://bourbonlocal.com/podcast/bl-s2026e03-pillar/ Instagram @bourbon_local, everywhere else @bourbonlocal Bourbon Local goes live every Sunday at 9 PM ET. Recorded live September 13, 2026.

    Episode 3: Triple Char, a Pigsty Full of Whisky, and Two Kentuckys on One Saturday

  3. Sep 2

    Episode 2: The Most Dangerous Job in America (And Why Bourbon Depends On It)

    The most dangerous job in America is not the one you are picturing. It is logging, and Jess traced the whole line from a standing tree to the bourbon in your glass. Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture and community show with bourbon as the thread: host Phil Taul with Jess Zimlich (the Bourbon Insider) and Jon O'Brien (the Bourbon Bodhisattva). Also this week: Bourbon Heritage Month begins, and we run the two week radar, from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival's 35th year in Bardstown (September 10 to 13) to Bourbon and Beyond in Louisville (September 24 to 27). A brand new Icebreaker Round: the most Kentucky thing Phil has ever done, what Jess did as a kid that would horrify her as a parent, and Jon's one rule for every bar forever. Jon's blind tasting: fourteen judges, three pours, and not one correct guess (one of them wrote Malort). Not Bourbon, But: Phil let AI run the boring parts of being a dad, Jon says read Unreasonable Hospitality, and Jess stands by her spray tan. TRY: Ben Holladay's all-Missouri Bottled-in-Bond, Huber's Blackberry Wine, and Jess defending Blanton's at $82.99. A new weekly pick of one other bourbon show worth your time. Dharma Dram with Jon: sometimes one percent is enough. And Last Call: the September 17 release at Starlight Distillery and the clap that still will not sync. Chapters (0:00) Cold Open + Welcome to Episode Two (2:58) Spotlight: Bourbon Heritage Month + the Kentucky Bourbon Festival (6:13) Icebreaker Round: Three Questions Nobody Saw Coming (10:53) Insider Intel with Jess: The Most Dangerous Job in America (20:07) Blind Tasting with Jon: Same Pour, Different Palates (25:33) Not Bourbon, But: Letting AI Run the Boring Parts (35:39) TRY: Ben Holladay, Huber's Blackberry Wine + Blanton's (44:55) One Other Show Worth Your Time (46:34) Dharma Dram with Jon O'Brien: Sometimes One Percent Is Enough (49:43) Last Call Read the episode article and sign up free for the weekly recap: https://bourbonlocal.com/podcast/bl-s2026e02-pillar/ Watch the video version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9wa_7Ebovk Instagram @bourbon_local, everywhere else @bourbonlocal Bourbon Local goes live every Sunday at 9 PM ET. Recorded live August 30, 2026.

    Episode 2: The Most Dangerous Job in America (And Why Bourbon Depends On It)

  4. Sep 2

    Episode 1: Jack Daniel's vs a Dog Toy, Talnua's Big Win, and Two New Segments

    Episode One of Bourbon Local, and Buy Try Pass is gone. Host Phil Taul sits down with Jess Zimlich (the Bourbon Insider) and Jon O'Brien (the Bourbon Bodhisattva) to run down what is actually worth leaving the house for during Bourbon Heritage Month, dig into a twelve year legal fight over a squeaky dog toy, and introduce two brand new segments. Also this week: the September calendar, from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival's 35th year in Bardstown to Bourbon and Beyond in Louisville, plus a new rooftop bar in downtown Elizabethtown called Off The Clock. Insider Intel with Jess: the Jack Daniel's versus Bad Spaniels trademark case that went all the way to the Supreme Court and back, and Talnua Distillery in Colorado winning the American Distilling Institute's Distillery of the Year. Not Bourbon, But debuts: one thing each host is obsessed with right now. TRY replaces Buy Try Pass with one bottle each host actually believes in, including Angel's Envy's newest distillery series release. Dharma Dram with Jon: character isn't proof, it's balance. And Last Call: a viewer's ice question and the second ever Bourbon Local clap. Chapters (0:00) Cold Open + Welcome to Episode One (2:18) September Spotlight: Bourbon Heritage Month Calendar + Off The Clock (8:25) Insider Intel with Jess: Jack Daniel's vs Bad Spaniels (18:02) Insider Intel with Jess: Talnua, ADI Distillery of the Year (27:10) Not Bourbon, But: Litter-Robot, ATG 70K, Keeneland + UK Football (33:50) TRY: Angel's Envy Amburana Release + Maker's Mark Community Batch (42:54) Dharma Dram with Jon O'Brien: Character Isn't Proof, It's Balance (46:33) Last Call: Ice or No Ice, Sign Up Free, and the Clap Read the episode article and sign up free for the weekly recap: https://bourbonlocal.com/podcast/bl-s2026e01-pillar/ Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yIAKX9XVHi4 Instagram @bourbon_local, everywhere else @bourbonlocal Bourbon Local goes live every Sunday at 9 PM ET. Recorded live August 23, 2026.

  5. Aug 19

    Episode 0: Jackie Zykan on Geosmin, Cast Iron Kentucky, and Buy Try Pass

    Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture show with bourbon as the thread, not a bourbon review show. In our very first episode, host Phil Taul sits down with Jess Zimlich (the Bourbon Insider) and Jon O'Brien (the Bourbon Bodhisattva) and welcomes their first ever guest, Jackie Zykan, founder of the whiskey based fragrance brand ODUOAK. She breaks down geosmin, the compound behind the smell after it rains, and how it shows up in whiskey, wine corks, catfish and even beets. Also this week: September is Bourbon Heritage Month, with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Old Forester's birthday bourbon release and Bourbon & Beyond all landing this month, plus Starlight Distillery's breast cancer awareness barrel pick on September 17 benefiting the Norton Cancer Institute. Insider Intel with Jess: the Bourbon Women Symposium, Sherry Carter's Mahogany Fox spirits project and its new downtown tasting room, and the story of Legacy Machine Design, a husband and wife team in Beaver Dam, Kentucky who make their own custom engraved cast iron pans. One minute on the Scotland whiskey tariffs. Buy, Try, Pass on Booker's 2026 Milkshake batch, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye batch B526 and New Riff Bottled in Bond. The first ever Dharma Dram with Jon: there is no best bourbon. And Last Call: sign up, drop your three bottles for next week, and the very first Bourbon Local clap. Chapters (0:00) Cold Open + Welcome to Bourbon Local (1:35) September Spotlight: Bourbon Heritage Month + Pawpaw Season (6:57) Guest: Jackie Zykan, Founder of ODUOAK, on geosmin, scent and whiskey (31:59) Insider Intel with Jess: Bourbon Women, Mahogany Fox, Legacy Machine Design (41:02) One Minute on the Scotland Tariffs (42:39) Buy, Try, Pass: Booker's Milkshake, ECBP Rye B526, New Riff BiB (45:02) Dharma Dram with Jon O'Brien (46:20) Last Call: Sign Up, Your Three Bottles, and the Clap Read the episode article and sign up free for the weekly recap: https://bourbonlocal.com/podcast/bl-s2026e00-pillar/ Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EjELsdZavbs Instagram @bourbon_local, everywhere else @bourbonlocal Bourbon Local goes live every Sunday at 9 PM ET. Recorded live August 16, 2026.

  • 5 Episodes

About

Bourbon Local is a Kentucky culture show with bourbon as the thread, not a bourbon review show. Host Phil Taul sits down every week with Jess Zimlich, the Bourbon Insider, and Jon O'Brien, the Bourbon Bodhisattva, for the people, places, stories and events behind the bottle: guests from inside the industry, Insider Intel, Buy Try Pass, the Dharma Dram, and what's happening around the Commonwealth. Live Sundays 9 PM ET, then here as a podcast. Sign up free at bourbonlocal.com.

Information

  • Creator
    PT Holding, LLC
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © PT Holding, LLC
  • Show Website
    Bourbon Local