2026 Fantasy Spirits Competition Round 1

The Guys are staying local this week, discussing Silver Tree Spirits out of Paxton, IL. Chris and Kat join the show to share their experiences with the brand and help the Guys sample through their various expressions.

Everyone's favorite head to head spirits competition is back. Jon vs Parker for an epic 4th season. The celebrity judge for Round 1 is non other than Bonding Over Bourbon's own Kat. She blind tastes five rounds of specially selected spirits and chooses a winner. Who will win?

The Guys are joined by Lexington Distillery RD1's R&D Master Distiller, Jarrad Gollihue, PhD for a conversation about the brand, their unique approach to whiskey and a sampling of their expressions. Chris and Kat from Bonding Over Bourbon join the episode to add their perspective to the conversation.

Parker and Intern Ali paid a visit to the Indie Spirits Expo held in downtown Chicago in late September. This mini-episode is a compilation of various short interviews they did with a variety of participating brands and a few of the expo attendees.

This week the Guys are back on their rum game, exploring an exciting new brand, The Rums of Mexico. They represent a selection of some of Mexico's finest rum makers covering a wide variety of terroir and production methods. They sample through 4 of these very distinct impressions, each with their own unique story. ***After the initial posting of this episode Parker was able to sit down with Jason Cox for a short interview to discuss the brand and a few other topics that has now been added. If you've already listened to the episode, you can hear this interview at the 39:45 minute mark. Sorry for the comical background noise, the interview space (bar they were at) was not being cooperative.

Driving back from the last day of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival the crew reflects on the weekend, tell some fun stories and Parker interviews a few of the distilleries who participated. What a weekend!

Parker and his friends from Bonding Over Bourbon recap their first full day at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. They sample some of the exclusive bottles they picked up and Parker interviews people at the festival to get some insight into this exceptional bourbon event.

On the road in Kentucky...Parker, Chris and Kat recap their first full day in Bardstown before the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. They recap their day picking barrels at Cox Creek Distilling.

This week the Guys are on location. Joined by John and Tyler from Chicago's best bourbon bar, Slightly Toasted, the Guys celebrate their 200th episode in style. The members of this all star panel each submit a handpicked bottle to be presented by them and judged by the group (and the studio audience) to determine which one is the best.

The annual spirits draft is back by popular demand. Jon vs Parker in the 4th year of the contest. 5 categories of spirits, 10 spirits drafted by each team, 3 judges, 1 winner. The guys draft their teams to try to put together a complete spirits team worthy of a championship in this blind tasting contest.