Welcome back to Bourbon Legends — where we pour something smooth and then go somewhere that was absolutely not smooth for the FBI in 1947.

This week, Justin, Jeff, and Kevin — Kevin is behind the camera, confirmed present, no further comment — crack open Coppercraft 9 Year Straight Bourbon from Holland, Michigan and dig into one of the most chaotic weeks in American UFO history: the Twin Falls Flying Saucer Hoax of July 1947.

Three weeks after pilot Kenneth Arnold coined the term “flying saucer” near Mount Rainier, Idaho was already deep in disc fever. A forest ranger and his partner had spotted eight to ten shining objects in a V-formation over Galena Summit. Sixty picnickers had seen something they couldn’t explain. A railway foreman had made his own report. And then, on July 11, 1947, four teenagers in Twin Falls placed a 30-inch disc built from drum cymbals, plexiglass, radio parts, and aluminium foil into a neighbour’s yard at 2:30 in the morning. The FBI was notified. Three Army officers flew in from Fort Douglas, Utah to examine it. Photos were confiscated. The disc was removed to Salt Lake City. And when the teenagers confessed — it was all a joke — the secrecy continued anyway, and the local newspaper printed an editorial asking why the government was being so cagey about something they knew was fake. Sound familiar?

(Kevin is behind the camera. He was also not responsible for the 1947 disc. We checked.)

BOURBON OF THE EPISODE

Coppercraft 9 Year Straight Bourbon Whiskey | Small Batch | Coppercraft Distillery, Holland, Michigan

Coppercraft blends barrels of 9+ year old sourced bourbons using brandy blending and proofing techniques that take three months from barrel to bottle — a deliberate, patient process that sets it apart from standard small-batch production. Michigan-made, award-winning, and smooth enough to hold up through a two-hour debate about government secrecy.

Proof: 90.6 (45.3% ABV) | 9+ years aged | Small batch | Blended using brandy proofing techniques

Character: rich and smooth with a balanced sweetness from the extended ageing — caramel and vanilla on the nose leading into warm oak, dark fruit, and baking spice, with a long, clean finish.

Awards: Gold Medal — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026.

Learn more: coppercraftdistillery.com

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Welcome back to Bourbon Legends — where we pour something worth finding and then go looking for something that might not want to be found.

This week, Justin, Jeff, and Kevin crack open Eagle Rare 10 Year — the allocated Buffalo Trace gem that somehow still sits around $40 when you can actually find it — and dig into Idaho’s own lake monster: Sharlie, the creature of Payette Lake near McCall.

Since at least 1920, a large serpentine creature — 30 to 40 feet long, humped back, small dinosaur-like head, and moving with a wake like a motorboat with no boat in sight — has been reported in Payette Lake's 392-foot glacier-carved depths. In 1944, 30 people saw it, Time Magazine ran the story, and monster hunters descended on McCall. In 1946, a physician in a group of 20 watched it dive and resurface for an extended period. In 1954, the town held a national naming contest — won by a woman from Virginia with a punchline from a radio comedy show. In 1985, the Idaho Fish and Game's own fisheries biologist said maybe Sharlie is just smarter than us. A 2023 video went viral. And nobody has ever proven what it is.

(Kevin is behind the camera. As always. We have accepted this.)

BOURBON OF THE EPISODE
Eagle Rare 10 Year | Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY
From the same distillery as Pappy Van Winkle, Blanton’s, and George T. Stagg. Eagle Rare uses Buffalo Trace’s Mashbill #1 — a low-rye recipe (believed to be approximately 75% corn, 10% rye, 15% malted barley, though Buffalo Trace has never officially confirmed the ratios) — and is aged a minimum of 10 years with every barrel hand-selected. Originally launched at 101 proof in 1975, it’s been bottled at 90 proof since 2005. One of the most sought-after bourbons at its price point; allocation is the main obstacle to finding it.
Proof: 90 (45% ABV) | Aged minimum 10 years | Low-rye Mashbill #1 | New charred oak
Nose: Toffee, honey, and leather. Palate: Bold, dry, and delicate — caramel, dark fruit, oak, and cocoa, with candied almonds and a rich mouthfeel. Finish: Dry, long, and lingering with warm oak, almond, and a touch of spice.

WHAT WE COVER
• The lake: Payette Lake, McCall, Idaho — 392 feet deep, glacier-carved, and fed by mountain snowmelt
• Native American oral tradition: the peoples who summered in Long Valley were afraid of the lake before any Western account existed
• 1920: the railroad logging crew who watched a log start moving under its own power
• 1944: 30 witnesses, national media, and Time Magazine
• 1946: a physician in a group of 20 watches it dive and resurface
• 1954: the naming contest, the winning entry, and why the name is literally a joke about credibility
• 1985: the Idaho Fish and Game fisheries biologist who said maybe it’s just smarter than us
• 2023: the viral video that briefly made Sharlie a national story again
• Eagle Rare 10 Year: the Buffalo Trace backstory, the allocation struggle, and tasting notes

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Welcome back to Bourbon Legends — where we pour something smooth and then go somewhere the smell is anything but.

This week, Justin, Jeff, and Kevin — Kevin is behind the camera, present and accounted for — open Ezra Brooks Kentucky Straight Bourbon and dig into one of the most dramatic and well-documented cryptid cases in American history: Momo, the Missouri Monster.

In the summer of 1972, a 4-foot bipedal creature covered in black matted fur, with a pumpkin-shaped head and glowing orange eyes, began terrorising the town of Louisiana, Missouri. The smell alone — described by every witness as an overwhelming rotting stench that arrived before the creature and lingered after it — sent residents scrambling. Then the fire department chief saw it in his headlights. Then a deputy fired a gunshot at it and it walked calmly to the guardrail, made eye contact, and stepped into the river. No blood trail found. Within two months a town of 4,000 people had armed posses in the woods, CBS and NBC had sent news crews, and local radio was offering a $1,000 reward. And then it stopped. Completely. No explanation. No body. Nothing.

Justin and Jeff break down 70 years of Momo sightings — from 1955 all the way through 2016 — and debate whether the iguana theory actually holds up, what the 1955 spark-emitting wand means for every conventional explanation, and why the fire department chief’s headlight sighting is the detail nobody can dismiss. Kevin is there. With the camera.

(Kevin is behind the camera. As always. We’ve stopped questioning this arrangement.)

BOURBON OF THE EPISODE
Ezra Brooks Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Lux Row Distillers, Bardstown, KY
An honest Kentucky sour mash bourbon that does exactly what it says. Starts with genuine Kentucky sour mash, aged the old-fashioned way, charcoal filtered, and bottled at a straightforward 90 proof. No gimmicks, no over-engineering — just a clean, approachable bourbon that holds up in the glass through a long episode.
Grains: corn, rye, and barley | Proof: 90 (45% ABV) | Charcoal filtered | Kentucky sour mash
Tasting notes: caramel and vanilla upfront with hints of spice and chocolate, finishing smooth and warm.
Awards: Platinum Medal — SIP Awards 2018, Double Gold Medal — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2018.
Learn more: ezrabrooks.com

WHAT WE COVER
• The 1955 Branch Hill encounter: three creatures, a spark-emitting wand, and a smell of almonds and alfalfa
• The 1971 Highway 79 encounter: two women, a stolen lunch, and an early independent sighting
• July 11, 1972: the Harrison children, the pumpkin-shaped head, and the creature carrying a dead dog
• The fire department chief and city councillor who saw it in his headlights
• Deputy Matthews who fired one shot — and it stepped over the guardrail and walked into the river
• CBS, NBC, armed posses, and a $1,000 unclaimed reward
• Why the wand from 1955 breaks every conventional explanation
• The iguana theory — and its significant problems
• Why the perfect, unexplained stop is one of the most suspicious details of all
• Ezra Brooks Kentucky Straight Bourbon: tasting notes and the sour mash tradition


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New episodes every week. New bourbon. New legend. Hit subscribe so you never miss a pour.

#BourbonLegends, #MissouriMomo, #Momo, #MissouriMonster, #Cryptid, #Bigfoot, #EzraBrooks, #KentuckyBourbon, #BourbonPodcast, #UrbanLegends