Welcome back to Bourbon Legends — where we pour something that shouldn't exist and then question whether anything does.

This week, Justin, Jeff, and Kevin — all three of them, in the room, confirmed physical presences — open Rainfire Bourbon finished in Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels at cask strength and spend the episode on one of the biggest questions in modern physics and philosophy: are we living in a computer simulation?

Neil deGrasse Tyson puts the odds at better than 50-50. Elon Musk says billions to one. And Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom proved in 2003 that at least one of three deeply uncomfortable things must be true — and two of them lead directly to us being simulated. Justin and Jeff work through the physics case: the universe has a maximum speed that looks like a processing limit, a minimum resolution that looks like a pixel size, and particles that don't commit to a position until someone looks at them. The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics confirmed the last part. Then there's déjà vu, the Mandela Effect, and the question of whether 'glitch' is the right word for what's been happening.

(Kevin is here. On camera. All three hosts. Drop that in the comments so regular viewers know this is a historic occasion.)

BOURBON OF THE EPISODE
Rainfire Bourbon Finished in Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Barrels | Cask Strength
Rainfire's flagship bourbon finished in Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels and bottled at cask strength — no dilution, exactly as it came from the barrel. Red Mountain is one of the smallest and most prestigious AVAs in Washington State, producing intensely concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon known for its mineral depth and dark fruit profile. That character carries straight into the glass.
Proof: 114 (57% ABV) | Cask Strength | Finished in Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels | $89.99
Nose: Rich fruitiness akin to madeira and plum, with notes of tangerine citrus. Palate: Full-bodied — classic oak, subtle vanilla, light caramels, rich cranberry, and Cabernet Sauvignon wine throughout. Finish: The same classic velvety finish Rainfire is known for, long and warming.
Awards: Gold Medal — 2024 Global Whiskey Challenge, North America | 92 points.

WHAT WE COVER
• What Simulation Theory actually claims — and why it's no longer just a sci-fi idea
• Nick Bostrom's trilemma: three options, all of them uncomfortable, at least one must be true
• The physics case: speed of light as a processing cap, Planck length as a pixel size, observer-dependent quantum states
• The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics and what it confirmed about reality
• The holographic principle: our 3D universe may be a projection of 2D information
• Déjà vu, the Mandela Effect, and whether 'glitch' is more than a metaphor
• Plato, Descartes, Hindu Maya, and Zhuangzi's butterfly — this idea is older than computers
• Rainfire Cabernet Sauvignon cask strength


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

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