WEBVTT

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All right. Stretching it out. Here we are. Shoot,

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there's so much going on. It's the first podcast

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of November. God bless. I got to tell you. Believe

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that or not. I was watching football this weekend,

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and they actually had some Christmas music playing

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in some of the commercials. And I got to tell

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you. That's too early. I think it's perfect.

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I got an emotional Woody. I was excited. I love

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this time of year, and I say it every single

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year. And then you cuss it off. That was a little

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different. I was disgruntled because my kids

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weren't doing something I wanted them to do.

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Maybe this year will be different. Well, I'm

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excited about tonight because we have two very

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special guests. We do. It's November 4th, 2025.

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It's a Dudes Like Us podcast. Mr. Producer Chuck

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behind the realm there. Dudes Like Us, I am Sean.

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I'm Paul. I am Jeff. I'm Victoria. I'm Noe. And

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we're here to pomp you up. Well, we're excited.

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We've got lots of stuff going on. So I'd like

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to, why don't you guys just kind of introduce

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yourselves and why are you here? What obnoxious

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person contacted you? We just showed up at your

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door and you said you had bourbon. There you

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go. And here you go. Here's some two extra waters

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in case you guys need them. No, my name is Victoria

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Urea. I have my husband here with me, Noe Urea.

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And we have a business called NVU Brands. And

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what we do is we help new and up and coming emerging

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brands with sales in Texas, brand management,

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distributing management. So we help them get

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to that next level. um when it comes to brand

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building strictly in the spirit industry yes

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anything alcohol related probably okay yeah no

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horse saddles or stirrups or cowboy hats oh look

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at that look at us right so yeah how many brands

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do you represent guys are so charismatic at the

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time we have uh three brands and then within

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them they have different types of so coastal

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bend distillery they have live oak vodka Lucky

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Star Gin, and those are the two main focuses.

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And then we also have Horse Neck Bourbon. They

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have the two bourbons plus their new nine -year

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founders and their RTDs. And then our last newest

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partner is Swift Single Malt out of the Hill

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Country. Very nice. So Horse Neck, we've had

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the Horse Neck. crew on, actually two of them.

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Had a blast with them. Very familiar with those

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guys, yeah. That's how we initially met you guys.

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Actually, we didn't even know who we were talking

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to. We saw the aftermath of some of the buzz

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in the social media, and I was like, God bless

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it. They were right there. And I heard Victoria's

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voice. I was like, who the hell is this chick?

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Her voice is fantastic. She sounds like you should

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be doing radio shows. Well, that's why we're

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here. Well, I don't know if you guys noticed,

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but I wore red today because I did hear the podcast

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with the lady in red. And I didn't know if that

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was me or not. No, he goes, listen to this. I

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go, it could have been anybody. And then it got

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a little bit more heated. Yeah, but thank you

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for the compliments. She's calling us out. Thank

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you. That was good. If I remember correctly,

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that's when we were doing that bourbon exchange.

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Yes. Right? Everybody's going back and forth,

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picking up the gifts and stealing from each other

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and Yes, I remember. And you were standing next

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to me. I was. I was standing right next to you

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guys. And I think you're the one that stole.

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Yeah, he said he walked over and he said, Sean,

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I'm so gassy. I need to stand up and walk away.

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And he was like, I'm going to go stand over that

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guy. I was wondering what that was all about.

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The truth comes out. Yeah. But it was a fun event.

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We enjoyed it. It was. It was great to kind of

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meet everybody. And regarding Horse Neck, I mean,

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those ready -to -drink, crushable bourbon whiskey

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drinks. Those are incredible drinks. They brought

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them on the podcast. We had them. They tasted

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great. Natural fruits. And we got schnookered.

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Oh, yeah. I mean, we really did because we did

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four of them and we're passing them around, pouring

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in our glass. And then after we went through

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four of them. And then two bourbons. Yeah, then

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we had two bourbons on top of that. Yeah. They

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got to sample the infinity. Yeah. Pardon? No,

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I said all in one sitting. Y 'all did all this.

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Well, they did a full podcast the first half.

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The second half, of course, is a little bit different.

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We're a little. less inhibited, you know, it's

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called seasoned. Is that what it is? Yeah. Did

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you say horse deck has a new one out a nine year?

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Yeah. It's right around the corner. They have

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690 bottles of the nine year founders reserve.

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Nice. So talking about the portfolio of services

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that you offer to the people you partner with,

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is that like a life cycle thing where you kind

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of start with them and then you take them all

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the way through? Would you guys kind of, they

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can kind of cherry pick what services you guys

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kind of help them with or how's that work? Yeah,

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it kind of varies per brand. When we started

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this, because our experience comes from being

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behind the bar to working for distributors, working

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for national brands, global brands. And so what

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we did a couple of years ago is turn it into

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a business. And so having that kind of experience,

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you can cater white glove service to the particular

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brand. I apologize. Let's back up just a little

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bit more. Sure. Because you were in the business.

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So like when you were what? 18, 19, 20 -ish?

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Right. 18. Oh, no. Wait a minute. 17. You were

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17? Yeah, I was 17 when I jumped in. So you started

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really early, started bartending, and how did

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you guys meet in that business? I'll let you

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tell the story. Oh, boy. Because I always tell

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it. She was a lady in red, wasn't she? It was

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a black dress. Well, I met him when I was 18

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years old, I believe. I was a... senior in high

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school. And at the time, I worked at Happy Hooters.

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I worked at Hooters. Oh, wow. Yeah, probably

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before I had my Hooters. So you were in orange,

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not black. Well, no, that's not the first time

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you saw me. So I had a boyfriend and Noe had

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a girlfriend at the time. And just like with

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my charming self and all my friends, we always

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got into bars as 21, even though we weren't.

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I don't know what it was, but we just did. And

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we went to the bar that Noe happens to be bartending

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at. And he had instructed the door guy to always

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give all the pretty girls a 21 and up band. So

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right away, we already got the hookup. Smart.

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Yeah. Well, I was the bartender slash manager

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slash approval. I don't think you get in trouble

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for that now. I think they're not going to fire

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you. No, no. It's definitely good for business,

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for sure. Just watching all my words right now.

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So I happened to go in with my boyfriend and

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his friends and everything. And I got my 21 band

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and I thought it was really cool. So I went down

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to get a drink. And who was my bartender? But

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Noe. And he said, well, you're very beautiful.

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The drinks are on the house. And I was so excited.

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And I went up and I'm like, I got free drinks.

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Of course, I had a jealous boyfriend at the time.

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So he goes down, he goes, who brought my girlfriend

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drinks? And he's like, well, you shouldn't let

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a pretty girl go down and get her. drinks um

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and they had to exchange words and i was so embarrassed

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and then we just left right well the next day

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on my shift guess who happens to be walking into

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hooters that day um and so i by chance had no

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idea we didn't we didn't we didn't know each

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other no idea it was just i guess fate and i

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was him and his friend so they walk in i go I

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don't know if you remember me from last night,

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but I apologize for the way that behavior. Come

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sit. I'll buy you guys some pitchers of beer.

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Like, well, like just come sit in my section.

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And actually during that whole exchange, his

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friend is the one that asked me for my number

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and I gave his friend my number. And I was shy.

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Yes, you were shy. And but then what did I tell

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my girlfriends? We have a hookup at this bar.

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Like, so we would go and I would take all my

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friends all the time to go see him at the bar.

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And then it just kind of led in. to things where

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we started talking, we actually became best friends

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before actually getting together. For over a

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year? Yeah, for over a year. Is that while you

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had your significant others? Yes. There was a

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little transition? Yeah, and I know that sounds

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really terrible. I don't think so. My ex and

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then his, we were not compatible. I mean, we're

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all young, right? I always say you gotta kiss

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a lot of... When you're young, you gotta figure

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it out. Yeah, you do. And I always say you got

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to kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince.

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So it kind of worked out that way and we became

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friends. And then one day I happened to sleep

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over, just to sleep over, I swear. And he, I'm

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pretty sure there was some sleep during that

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time. But, and then before he left, he put the

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key on my key ring and said, you know, here's

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a spare key. And I never left after that. Well,

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I was trying to be cool about it, so when she

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was upstairs and she immediately saw it, she's

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like, what is this? And I was like, well, you're

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going to need it. Very nice. It's confidence.

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All right, so let me recap. So you used him for

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free alcohol for a year. Yep. Absolutely. And

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then she needed a place to stay, and you said,

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all right, stay here forever. Yes, ma 'am. Okay.

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And here we are. Did I get that right? 24 years

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later. That's awesome. That's a great story.

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Thank you. Very cool. Yeah. So you guys are,

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uh, ultimately did you guys end up working at

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the same place? No, no, we didn't. I mean, we've

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always been the alcohol industry and in the alcohol

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industry, it's really faux pas. You're not supposed

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to work with a significant other or your spouse,

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right? Well, one. You're in the alcohol industry

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and others, you know, there could be a lot of

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jealousy and all of that. But when I was bartending,

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I mean, Noe would come and hang out with my bar

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and he would, it was so funny because, you know,

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you have guys and they come and they flirt and

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they say stuff. And then, of course, Noe's like,

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yeah, I bet I can take her home. And they're

00:09:51.070 --> 00:09:52.970
like, no, you can't, whatever, we've been trying.

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And they're like, no, watch. And then he would

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do it and then he'd like, I'd be like, yeah,

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here's my number. Like, let's like meet up later.

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So we played like a little joke with it. Dude,

00:10:01.490 --> 00:10:04.269
you could have made some money. I bet you a hundred

00:10:04.269 --> 00:10:06.750
dollars I'd get her phone number. Totally. leg

00:10:06.750 --> 00:10:09.649
broken but whatever but we we you know we know

00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:11.389
we and i grew up in the industry so we don't

00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:13.570
really have that jealous bone when it comes to

00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:15.190
it i mean we both know that we're working we're

00:10:15.190 --> 00:10:18.429
both professional in it so it's like we it's

00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:19.970
a thing i mean if we have to go to different

00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:22.529
events we're we're totally fine with it and you

00:10:22.529 --> 00:10:25.169
know we trust each other yeah so what was what

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was the the catalyst what what what was the spark

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you know you guys are both in the industry and

00:10:31.250 --> 00:10:33.049
then all of a sudden you're like you see these

00:10:33.839 --> 00:10:36.360
uh these vendors that are coming in and they're

00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.340
dropping off millilite products along with all

00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:42.320
these schwag and and you're kind of like man

00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.779
i could i could do that is that kind of the spirit

00:10:45.779 --> 00:10:47.820
of what what happened you know it's funny when

00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:51.980
i was a waiter i would i remember seeing our

00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:54.700
liquor guy come in and he would come in and he

00:10:54.700 --> 00:10:56.399
was doing that he was giving away shirts or he

00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.700
was talking to other people and i told my buddy

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dude i could totally do that i want to do that

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And like two years later, I was doing that. So

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it was just, I didn't realize that was actually

00:11:06.210 --> 00:11:09.289
a job. And that was, you got paid to go out and

00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:12.070
talk about liquor. And then it kind of just evolved

00:11:12.070 --> 00:11:14.629
and grew into something great. And then gained

00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:18.009
some credibility and some reputation for knowing

00:11:18.009 --> 00:11:20.929
the industry. And then suddenly people are reaching

00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:23.730
out to you or did you kind of hit up some distillery

00:11:23.730 --> 00:11:27.210
saying, I can help you? So when my career started,

00:11:27.250 --> 00:11:28.990
I started in the warehouse. I actually didn't

00:11:28.990 --> 00:11:31.340
start in sales. I started merchandising. So I

00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:33.279
was in the warehouse stocking trucks, stocking

00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.700
shelves, doing all that. And then I got a promotion.

00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.559
And then I worked in the sales on the wine and

00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.279
the liquor side for two or three years. So I

00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:45.320
worked for RNDC, the distributor, for 12 years.

00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.360
Nice. And in those 12 years, I did six promotions.

00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:51.519
So doing several jobs along the way got me a

00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.500
great experience. Yeah, for sure. End to end.

00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.220
Yeah. But then from there, I moved to San Antonio.

00:11:57.740 --> 00:12:00.879
We lived apart for a year. And I worked for RNDC

00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.559
up there, but I worked for Pano Ricard, Absolute,

00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.659
Malibu, Jamison, Chivas, and got to get that

00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:10.519
great experience. And then after 12 years, they

00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:12.399
called me into the room and said, thank you for

00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.440
your 12 years of service. We're eliminating your

00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:16.840
job. You have 60 days to find a new opportunity.

00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:20.539
I've been there. Good Lord. So by the time I

00:12:20.539 --> 00:12:22.360
left the parking lot that day, I had three interviews.

00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.480
Long story short. And then two days later, I'm

00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:27.899
on a flight to Houston for an interview. And

00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:30.899
I'm working for Stoli Vodka running Houston.

00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:33.620
I had to convince her we're moving to Houston.

00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:36.240
That wasn't easy. And then from there it grew.

00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:38.700
But from Houston, four and a half years of working

00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:41.039
for that company to running that and then the

00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:44.000
state. So it was kind of an evolution. Yeah.

00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:47.320
Anything else? That job was huge. Yeah. And it

00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.990
was. I probably would have stayed with that company.

00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:52.549
Exactly. That's what happens. You get stuck in

00:12:52.549 --> 00:12:54.850
the rat race, and you're thinking there's that

00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:58.049
carrot at the end of the tunnel while they dangle

00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:00.769
the carrot of success in front of you. It was

00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:04.210
my first time experiencing I'm a number. I'm

00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:07.629
actually just part of this. Correct. For sure.

00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:10.370
I was in. I was a guy who was, I'm a company

00:13:10.370 --> 00:13:12.149
guy. I'm a corporate guy. I'm a structured guy.

00:13:12.210 --> 00:13:15.710
That is me. Then you realize, next, and then

00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.559
you kind of have to read. re -imagine, rethink

00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.279
differently. Yeah. That's why I didn't get back

00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:24.139
into the rat race. I was done with it last, what

00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:26.139
was it, last March I got laid off. So I know

00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.740
how that feels and I haven't gone back to the

00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:30.620
corporate world. So I'm done with the rat race.

00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:34.500
Yeah. You know. And I've been laid off five times

00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:39.159
and I'm still in the rat race. Hmm. That's exciting.

00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:42.250
I should have been laid off hundreds of times.

00:13:44.289 --> 00:13:46.669
But for some reason, they keep me around. He

00:13:46.669 --> 00:13:49.429
still survives. They keep me. We got to have

00:13:49.429 --> 00:13:51.649
one freaking retarded loser. So we're going to

00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:54.970
make the DEI quota. There you go. That's why

00:13:54.970 --> 00:13:57.330
you survived this one. That's why they keep you

00:13:57.330 --> 00:14:01.929
around. Sean checks all these boxes. He's covered.

00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:04.610
Let's just keep him here. Wow. Isn't he gay?

00:14:05.529 --> 00:14:08.950
I am happy. I am. Yeah, you can be anything they

00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:14.779
want you to be. So you're at that job, and you

00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:17.120
guys are still together. And what were you doing

00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.940
on that job? Yeah, so I wanted to be a vet. I'm

00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:20.639
supposed to be helping animals right now. I still

00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.159
love animals, but the reason why we were apart

00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:26.000
is because I was finishing my bachelor's degree

00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.899
in biomedical science, so all my prerequisites

00:14:28.899 --> 00:14:32.659
to go to veterinary school. Where was this at?

00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.559
Corpus Christi. A &M Corpus Christi. Nice. So

00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:40.580
then... it came time okay let's start applying

00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:43.059
and doing all this other stuff but because I

00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:45.279
was trying to finish so fast I was doing like

00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.779
18 20 hours per semester so it was really hard

00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:49.559
and I don't know if you ever done biomedical

00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.700
science but the labs and the just all that kind

00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:55.899
of stuff was tiring so then I said I'm going

00:14:55.899 --> 00:14:59.159
to take a little break and then somebody found

00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:03.580
out that I took a little break and a winery in

00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:05.879
texas uh picked me up and asked me hey do you

00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.340
buy while you're in your transition phase do

00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.460
you want to come and sell some wine i was like

00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:12.500
okay yeah and you know let's do that and then

00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:14.279
i started that and i never left the alcohol industry

00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:16.240
i left it for a little while i left it for three

00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.659
years um i still have the business that i started

00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:20.700
at when i left but i came back into the industry

00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:24.679
so then i did the wine um and then we know he's

00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.529
like we're moving to houston and i'm like However,

00:15:28.769 --> 00:15:31.529
I didn't know Houston then. I love Houston now.

00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:34.509
It's a lot of variety and it's kind of pulling

00:15:34.509 --> 00:15:36.250
me away. This place a little bit is kind of pulling

00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.909
me away that I might come and check it out over

00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:44.940
here. Houston's kind of a butthole. Wow. I mean,

00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:48.740
it's the armpit of Texas. Certain areas. I was

00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:50.820
going to say, there's good and bad areas of every

00:15:50.820 --> 00:15:53.279
city. I didn't mean to slam that. It's the truth.

00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.379
And you know, I get a little frustrated because

00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:57.600
there are a lot of places where it should not

00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.059
be as trashy as it should be. And they should

00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:03.320
clean it up. And it really is sad because it's

00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:05.460
a beautiful city. And there's a lot of great

00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:07.740
business people there. It's a very large city.

00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:09.879
It's significantly larger than Dallas -Fort Worth.

00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:12.759
They have a lot of specs, because I think I visited

00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:13.840
all of them looking for that double. Well, it's

00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.580
the headquarters over there. Yeah. Well, they

00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:17.379
had the double -barrel Spanish hook I was looking

00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:19.720
for. I went to like every single one of them.

00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.879
I did enjoy going down to Houston, though. Yeah.

00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.080
So it's not horrible, horrible. You know, and

00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:27.000
we'll go back to that, but let me finish this

00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.460
really quick. So then I went to work for Republic.

00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.120
So I was working for there in Houston. And then

00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.019
I don't think I've ever been a corporate person.

00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:39.799
I've tried very hard. And I'm one of those people

00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.940
that will climb up the ladder just naturally

00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:46.059
of like, just, you know. You're driven, ambition,

00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:49.240
you know, you work good with people. Very much

00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.240
so. That happens naturally. Very much so. But

00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:53.659
I just didn't feel it. I was always, and then

00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:55.379
I was always saying, there's something more,

00:16:55.379 --> 00:16:57.440
something more. And I would get great offers.

00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:01.289
And I left. to go i got taken away with um dulce

00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.410
vida tequila you were poached i was poached and

00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:06.670
i said yeah let's do that let's get that experience

00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:08.730
and then i was like it's just i don't understand

00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:10.730
i would get and i'm not trying to brag about

00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:12.690
myself but they would give me multiple raises

00:17:12.690 --> 00:17:15.170
within that same year i mean you know and i'm

00:17:15.170 --> 00:17:17.009
still really great friends with the owners and

00:17:17.009 --> 00:17:19.009
everything like that but i was like what is it

00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:22.789
what is it why am i not satisfied um and i do

00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:24.670
a lot of self -development and again i like to

00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:27.900
I study entrepreneurs and business and I'm like,

00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:29.599
I think that's where I want to go. I don't, I

00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:32.259
just, I'm not fitting in. I don't feel right

00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:35.119
here. All the great opportunities, I learned

00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:36.579
a lot of skill there, but I was like, it's just,

00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:39.480
I don't feel right. So then I went to one women

00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:42.400
in business conference in Missouri. After that,

00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:44.539
I was like, I'm done. I found another opportunity

00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:46.720
in the finance world and insurance world. I said,

00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:49.339
I'm leaving once I get my license. Started that,

00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.920
started a team. I still have that going. And

00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:56.519
then, you know, that taught me so many skills

00:17:56.519 --> 00:18:00.579
beyond belief on just looking at things not as

00:18:00.579 --> 00:18:03.690
a W -2 or employee. Looking things in more on

00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.690
the entrepreneurial side. The driven, the everything.

00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:09.970
So then when the opportunity or situation arose

00:18:09.970 --> 00:18:11.990
where Noe's like, what do you think we should

00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:13.710
do? I was like, you're not going to go work for

00:18:13.710 --> 00:18:16.089
anybody else. Let's fucking do this. Let's start

00:18:16.089 --> 00:18:19.269
NVU Brands. We can do it. So that's what we've

00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:21.509
been doing and we're going on over two years

00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:25.529
now with it. And I love it. I mean, I love doing

00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:28.089
that. You either know that you are or you don't

00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:29.730
know or you're in that transition of trying to

00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:32.680
figure it out. I always tell people, if you're

00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:34.960
in that transition of, I don't know whether I

00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:36.960
stay in the W -2 world and the employee world

00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.200
or do you go in the entrepreneurship, you got

00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:42.259
to look at it in this two ways. There's two Victorias,

00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:45.980
right? One of it, if I go in the W -2 employee

00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:48.180
world, I probably could move up the ladder. I

00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:51.549
have a... consistent salary. I get holidays off.

00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:55.549
I get weekends off. Benefits. Benefits. There's

00:18:55.549 --> 00:18:57.430
security. I mean, there's a lot of things to

00:18:57.430 --> 00:19:00.009
it. Now, of course, you have like, oh, I have

00:19:00.009 --> 00:19:01.970
to go to work on Monday or whatever. And then

00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:04.369
you have the entrepreneur world where it's like

00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:08.009
anxiety all the time. Everything rises and falls

00:19:08.009 --> 00:19:10.089
with you. You have to figure out where cash flow

00:19:10.089 --> 00:19:11.470
is going to come from. You're always having to

00:19:11.470 --> 00:19:13.170
pivot. You're always, I mean, there's a lot of

00:19:13.170 --> 00:19:14.950
stress in that. Everybody thinks it's glamorous.

00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:17.390
And you work twice as much. You work twice as

00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:19.950
much. This whole be your own boss and make your

00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:21.789
own hours is completely bullshit because now

00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:24.690
you have no hours. It's like 24 -7 all the day.

00:19:24.930 --> 00:19:27.170
But if you keep, and I kept saying, okay, which

00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:29.289
one should I do? And if I kept leaning towards

00:19:29.289 --> 00:19:31.829
the entrepreneurship, like, man, I love it. I

00:19:31.829 --> 00:19:34.829
can't go back. That's when you know, boom, that's

00:19:34.829 --> 00:19:37.930
the road you're meant to be. When I started to

00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:39.750
figure that out, I was like, I can't ever go

00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:41.569
back to it. I mean, there's some times where

00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:43.750
I'm like, man, should we just go back and just

00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:46.349
get a good, you know, but it's hard for me to

00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:49.569
ever go back once you start it. So you're loving

00:19:49.569 --> 00:19:51.029
it. Sounds like you're loving it. Are you both

00:19:51.029 --> 00:19:54.869
like 100 % in all the time? 1 ,000%. This is

00:19:54.869 --> 00:19:57.049
it. This is going to happen. Excellent. Yeah.

00:19:57.170 --> 00:19:59.630
For two years. We're coming up on two years.

00:20:00.130 --> 00:20:03.529
So before we started this company, I was with

00:20:03.529 --> 00:20:05.900
another broker. And I ran three states for him,

00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:07.960
Texas, Florida, and California. That's where

00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:09.839
I learned this side of the business, the broker

00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:12.480
work, having multiple brands and being a part

00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.720
of multiple brands. And I liked it. And I thought

00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.059
that there was a certain way to do about it,

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:18.380
but there was something that was missing from

00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:22.160
it. And so when I left there, that's where we

00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:25.880
made the decision to actually start NVU Brands.

00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:28.359
And so the first thing we did was we did it the

00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:31.230
way we did it before, have a lot of brands. We

00:20:31.230 --> 00:20:33.410
went up to nine, almost 10. I think we had 10

00:20:33.410 --> 00:20:38.109
brands at one point. Hated it because your revenue

00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:40.490
is great, but you're not doing an actually good

00:20:40.490 --> 00:20:42.769
job for these brands. You're spread too thin.

00:20:42.970 --> 00:20:45.029
You are. And then it was just us. There's no

00:20:45.029 --> 00:20:47.589
other employees. There's zero in the state of

00:20:47.589 --> 00:20:49.970
Texas. So what do you guys, what do you, let's

00:20:49.970 --> 00:20:53.089
narrow this down for the ignorant folks like

00:20:53.089 --> 00:20:58.119
me. What are you doing for like Horse Neck? Like

00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:00.980
you met the owners, you meet them and you're

00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:03.440
like, hey, this is what I can offer. What are

00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:05.940
you doing? I mean, are you doing all the social

00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:09.240
media? I mean, are you setting up opportunities

00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:12.900
for podcasts, all of the above? Yeah, let me

00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:14.339
take a step back. And it's not just for Horse

00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:18.099
Neck. So when you, there's, know how many brands

00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:21.319
are starting every year? 317 new brands come

00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:24.000
into Texas. And a lot of those new brands have

00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.630
never been in the industry. Right. So what happens

00:21:27.630 --> 00:21:30.869
is and it's a great idea. And again, I'm a huge

00:21:30.869 --> 00:21:33.329
advocate for entrepreneurs. If you have a dream,

00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:35.569
if you have something and you you want to start

00:21:35.569 --> 00:21:37.509
it, go for it. I'm going to be your number one.

00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:39.970
You know, I'm going to applaud you for that.

00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:43.470
But what happens is they're like, oh, shit, this

00:21:43.470 --> 00:21:47.230
is not as easy as just making a brand or creating

00:21:47.230 --> 00:21:50.289
a product. So in Texas, we have the four tier

00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:54.740
system and there's a lot of steps. to get your

00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:57.220
product from here to the retail store, to the

00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:59.859
bar, to the restaurants. And a lot of the new

00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:02.619
brands that come out, they don't know that process.

00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:05.779
We have to work with a distributor. Then you

00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:07.319
have to work, if you're trying to get into bars

00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:10.140
and restaurants, a Class B, like a Specs, a Twins,

00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:14.240
a Goody, whatever Class Bs there are here. And

00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.299
so there's a lot of navigating. There's also

00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:18.299
a lot, because we worked with distributors, we

00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:21.809
can speak that lingo. um, and that lingo to where

00:22:21.809 --> 00:22:24.470
we know what to ask the right questions. We also

00:22:24.470 --> 00:22:27.210
know, Hey, the pricing, um, because knowing I

00:22:27.210 --> 00:22:30.069
are out so much and we, we see a lot of people

00:22:30.069 --> 00:22:32.569
all across Texas, all different buyers. We know

00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:34.829
what they're looking for. And what sometimes

00:22:34.829 --> 00:22:37.130
what happens is because again, if somebody is

00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:38.890
very new to the industry, they don't have the

00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:40.430
pulse of the market. They don't know they're

00:22:40.430 --> 00:22:43.170
not out there as much as why they hire us. So

00:22:43.170 --> 00:22:46.230
we can get. not only the feedback, see what people

00:22:46.230 --> 00:22:48.670
are wanting, come back, let's pivot, let's do

00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:51.390
this, but also manage the brand and guide them

00:22:51.390 --> 00:22:54.240
into being like, okay. well, here's a good plan

00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.660
for how we should approach the market, what we

00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:59.720
should do. It's a little bit of marketing, but

00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:01.720
a lot of sales. And of course, once we have that

00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:05.279
foundation in place, then it's easier for us

00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:06.900
to go and be like, okay, here's what we have

00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:08.759
for the retailer. The problem with the industry

00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:10.440
right now is there's a lot of brands, and you

00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:13.019
guys see this in the liquor stores. It's getting

00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:15.099
saturated. There is saturation right now. It's

00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:19.299
very saturated. x y and z brand they go in they

00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:22.079
place it it sits there it collects dust it's

00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.539
retail for the retailer and it's like this is

00:23:24.539 --> 00:23:27.170
i'm losing money that it's not What's the pull

00:23:27.170 --> 00:23:29.089
through? And a lot of brands don't have that

00:23:29.089 --> 00:23:31.230
strategy. So when Noe and I, we were starting

00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:32.849
this company at first, we're like, okay, we're

00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:35.029
going to do what we do. But with emerging brands,

00:23:35.150 --> 00:23:36.829
it's different. With all these brands that have

00:23:36.829 --> 00:23:39.009
names, they just pull. That's easy, right? If

00:23:39.009 --> 00:23:42.289
we represented a brand that just had the name,

00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:44.849
our job is a little bit easier. But we're starting

00:23:44.849 --> 00:23:47.089
from scratch, building it from ground up, which

00:23:47.089 --> 00:23:49.289
takes a lot of grit, a lot of fortitude, a lot

00:23:49.289 --> 00:23:51.769
of patience. And I tell all these brands, we

00:23:51.769 --> 00:23:54.230
are the punching bag because there's stuff that

00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:56.299
buyers will tell us that... they probably won't

00:23:56.299 --> 00:23:59.299
tell you. So we have to navigate through that

00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:02.960
and kind of put in a better game plan. That way

00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:05.680
it's a pull through for these buyers. The point

00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:11.400
of a company is to solve problems. You have to

00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:14.859
have solutions. And if I bring a bottle to that

00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:16.900
retailer, it's a problem. Nobody knows the name.

00:24:17.360 --> 00:24:19.819
It has no presence. So we have to figure out

00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:21.660
- Yeah, what sets it apart. What sets it apart.

00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:24.460
So we have to make sure our pricing's right and

00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:26.700
a strategy of like, okay, here, I'm placing this,

00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:28.519
but I'm also going to do a tasting. We have an

00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:31.660
NVU ambassador coming in. I got to get the liquid

00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:33.539
to lips. There's a lot of things that we do.

00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:36.900
And it's crazy because when Noe and I, the other

00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:39.599
day, we're like, oh man, we just do a lot. But

00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:42.500
it might seem smooth for our brands because they

00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:44.299
don't see a lot of the backend stuff like that.

00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:49.609
Do you guys ever do like - So yeah, we just started

00:24:49.609 --> 00:24:53.609
an NVU ambassador program where we are hand -trained.

00:24:53.609 --> 00:24:55.710
We're not a demo or promo company, but we are

00:24:55.710 --> 00:24:58.910
hand -training certain leaders in each market

00:24:58.910 --> 00:25:02.670
to learn how to sell each brand, how to captivate

00:25:02.670 --> 00:25:04.170
somebody when they're coming in for a retail

00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:07.329
tasting, those types of things. So we do offer

00:25:07.329 --> 00:25:09.809
that. I mean, we go in, Noe and I will sell the

00:25:09.809 --> 00:25:12.380
cases in. And then be like, OK, well, let's schedule

00:25:12.380 --> 00:25:14.940
a tasting so we can start getting this out there.

00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:17.740
We've also started doing like social media to

00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:19.940
where on some of our top accounts, we're like,

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:21.640
OK, we're going to bring our media guy and we're

00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:24.460
going to start shooting and doing ads and things

00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:26.660
like that. So we're thinking beyond it. And if

00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:28.980
you look at right now, there's not a lot of brokers

00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:32.819
that think like that, which is good and not good.

00:25:32.859 --> 00:25:34.779
I think eventually they will. But we have to

00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:37.950
figure out how to. With these new brands, how

00:25:37.950 --> 00:25:40.109
do we pull it through and how do we start building

00:25:40.109 --> 00:25:43.309
up some momentum so people are buying it and

00:25:43.309 --> 00:25:45.630
pulling it off the shelf? Right. Yeah, and we

00:25:45.630 --> 00:25:47.990
don't take pivots lightly. We take it very seriously.

00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:50.589
So when a brand has a marketing plan, a sales

00:25:50.589 --> 00:25:53.750
strategy, and the guys at Horse Neck, when they

00:25:53.750 --> 00:25:56.410
came out, the RTDs were the first lead. You guys

00:25:56.410 --> 00:25:58.670
met that and the bourbons came later. Well, the

00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:01.990
feedback we got from the market was challenging.

00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:04.569
It was a very challenging market. COVID was over.

00:26:04.849 --> 00:26:09.150
Sales were hot. And Brown Spirit, RTDs, or in

00:26:09.150 --> 00:26:13.650
that section, if Jack and Jim and Jameson were

00:26:13.650 --> 00:26:16.890
struggling to get pool, and they're a certain

00:26:16.890 --> 00:26:18.789
price point a year, a couple bucks higher, regardless

00:26:18.789 --> 00:26:20.869
of how great it is, which we think it's a great

00:26:20.869 --> 00:26:23.549
product, it doesn't matter. This market is going

00:26:23.549 --> 00:26:26.609
to say what they're saying. So that's where we

00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:29.569
came back and did a pivot. And after six months,

00:26:29.730 --> 00:26:32.670
collecting all the data, and then the same thing

00:26:32.670 --> 00:26:34.509
kind of happened with the bourbons. It's very

00:26:34.509 --> 00:26:38.319
good juice. The pricing, we had to kind of work

00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:41.039
on that. And so now we've restructured both of

00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:44.019
their pricings. And in just the 30 days of really

00:26:44.019 --> 00:26:46.400
bringing it to market, you can see an instant

00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:49.859
difference. So we take our time in getting the

00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:51.940
pivot, but that's what we do. As far as sales

00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:55.460
strategy, we don't really take control of their

00:26:55.460 --> 00:26:59.579
marketing strategy. That's their team. But we

00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:01.460
do that as just being a part of our company.

00:27:02.409 --> 00:27:05.869
So is it generally, like you said, it's so saturated,

00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:09.670
it's so competitive. If you know they've got

00:27:09.670 --> 00:27:13.210
juice, that will compete, right? If they don't

00:27:13.210 --> 00:27:14.849
have a juice that won't compete, it doesn't matter

00:27:14.849 --> 00:27:16.609
what the price point is, right? We all know that.

00:27:16.849 --> 00:27:18.930
Have you had to break some bad news to the folks

00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:21.710
before that says what's inside the bottle is

00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:24.529
not resonating with people? Meaning the price

00:27:24.529 --> 00:27:27.329
point's not going to help. Well, yeah. It's not

00:27:27.329 --> 00:27:30.720
good stuff. And part of this process was learning,

00:27:30.779 --> 00:27:33.119
learning that you have to communicate that. And

00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:35.039
this is, we do business the right way. We have

00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:38.900
a very strict core value, core ethics. So now

00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:42.000
we taste the juice, look at the pricing, look

00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.640
at the strategy and then come determine how we're

00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.880
going to approach it. But we've had to part ways

00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:49.720
with the brands because it just wasn't either

00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:53.059
going to work or other reasons. But yes, we've

00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:55.269
had to have, and they're not. They're not comfortable.

00:27:55.450 --> 00:27:57.349
Everyone's, what is it? Everyone thinks their

00:27:57.349 --> 00:28:01.049
baby's the prettiest. Right. Oh, yeah. Yes. So

00:28:01.049 --> 00:28:03.750
it's a tough conversation. It is. It is. But

00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:06.750
you're about being real. I mean, you're not going

00:28:06.750 --> 00:28:09.269
to sell them something that is not going to succeed.

00:28:09.490 --> 00:28:11.990
We could easily take their money for six months,

00:28:12.049 --> 00:28:14.509
a year. And we're trying. We're getting this.

00:28:14.589 --> 00:28:16.170
We're getting that. It's ethics. Personal ethics

00:28:16.170 --> 00:28:18.849
in business. I like that. Well, yeah. I mean,

00:28:18.849 --> 00:28:23.660
it's our ethical responsibility to put. prerequisites

00:28:23.660 --> 00:28:26.660
on brand so we get we get emails from brands

00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:28.880
all the time of like oh i got your number can

00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.279
you and so we have a questionnaire and let's

00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:33.079
talk about it we always give everybody one zoom

00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:35.980
call and we look at like what they have and we

00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:37.740
ask them a couple questions and if there's some

00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:39.839
that they're just like they're not ready they're

00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:42.650
not ready for us yet But we do give them a little

00:28:42.650 --> 00:28:45.289
bit of constructive, it's not even criticism,

00:28:45.430 --> 00:28:47.849
but just steps of like, hey, you might want to

00:28:47.849 --> 00:28:49.970
start here or look at doing this or look at doing

00:28:49.970 --> 00:28:52.450
that. Because again, like what Noe said, we could

00:28:52.450 --> 00:28:54.450
easily, okay, here's the fee, here's everything

00:28:54.450 --> 00:28:56.269
that you do. And then like, we're really not

00:28:56.269 --> 00:28:58.410
going to be successful out there. But we're taking,

00:28:58.509 --> 00:29:00.490
we just don't do that. We're not built like that.

00:29:00.690 --> 00:29:02.690
Integrity is a huge thing for our company. But

00:29:02.690 --> 00:29:05.869
it is that ethical responsibility for any company

00:29:05.869 --> 00:29:08.970
to put prerequisites on people before they say

00:29:08.970 --> 00:29:11.609
yes to something. Is it just the two of you?

00:29:11.990 --> 00:29:13.789
That's it. For right now. I mean, we do have

00:29:13.789 --> 00:29:16.250
a CFO and she helps us with all our financing,

00:29:16.309 --> 00:29:18.809
but we're starting to build up this NVU ambassador

00:29:18.809 --> 00:29:23.109
team. That's a 1099 position for right now. We,

00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:25.990
you know, we look on business wise. We're very.

00:29:26.800 --> 00:29:29.640
when it comes to our money now. Before year one,

00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:31.259
it was wild, wild west. We were doing whatever

00:29:31.259 --> 00:29:33.980
versus like, you know, learning it. But again,

00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:35.839
we want to make sure that we're financially stable

00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.599
and everything for people to start hiring right

00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:40.619
now. Plus, once we hire, we also have to raise

00:29:40.619 --> 00:29:42.880
up everything for all of our brands. So we want

00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.680
to make sure that we're getting enough volume

00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:47.519
for our brands first before we can go like, hey,

00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:49.180
I got to hire somebody in Dallas. I got to hire

00:29:49.180 --> 00:29:51.960
somebody in San Antonio. I got to hire. So we're

00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:54.200
looking all that. And of course, we want to scale

00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:56.849
this. This thing is going to be, We're going

00:29:56.849 --> 00:30:00.289
to be NVU Group pretty soon, and it's just going

00:30:00.289 --> 00:30:02.289
to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And because

00:30:02.289 --> 00:30:04.329
we're out in the market, you see it's not the

00:30:04.329 --> 00:30:06.750
right time to add employees. Right. We have to

00:30:06.750 --> 00:30:08.670
be very aware. And you're just kind of looking

00:30:08.670 --> 00:30:10.430
at everything that's going on, rate of sale,

00:30:10.690 --> 00:30:13.509
rate of turn, just kind of the whole thing. And

00:30:13.509 --> 00:30:15.190
we tried. We had an employee for a few months,

00:30:15.269 --> 00:30:18.269
and we parted ways. But that's when it gave us

00:30:18.269 --> 00:30:21.049
a true reality of what the cost, the taxes, and

00:30:21.049 --> 00:30:22.829
everything that went involved with that. There's

00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:25.619
a lot to it. What kind of got into, I mean, you've

00:30:25.619 --> 00:30:27.440
touched on it a couple times, is the state of

00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.400
the business right now. Because I've read some

00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:31.539
stuff, the guys have read some stuff just in

00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:34.579
general across the nation that the whole whiskey

00:30:34.579 --> 00:30:37.839
bourbon industry is really softening at the moment.

00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.940
What are you seeing out there? You're probably

00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:44.980
much more involved. And we've seen the glut of

00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:47.619
brands up there. Every time you go into Total

00:30:47.619 --> 00:30:51.750
Wine or Specs, you see something new. I understand

00:30:51.750 --> 00:30:55.309
that it takes time to make this stuff. Four years

00:30:55.309 --> 00:30:58.569
ago, bourbon was at the top of the world. Now

00:30:58.569 --> 00:31:00.369
that they're releasing it, it's not exactly the

00:31:00.369 --> 00:31:01.789
top of the world. It's starting to come back

00:31:01.789 --> 00:31:05.529
down. Are you seeing a lot of the brands starting

00:31:05.529 --> 00:31:10.349
to disappear, really reducing pricing? What are

00:31:10.349 --> 00:31:12.250
you getting from others in the industry as far

00:31:12.250 --> 00:31:15.049
as how it's going? When I see display stacks

00:31:15.049 --> 00:31:21.490
of Buffalo Trace and Weller, And $29 .99, $30

00:31:21.490 --> 00:31:24.829
.99, I know that everyone else is going to have

00:31:24.829 --> 00:31:27.309
a challenge. All the little, small, developing,

00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:29.690
up -and -coming brands have got to realize what

00:31:29.690 --> 00:31:32.170
they're up against, what consumers are buying.

00:31:32.829 --> 00:31:36.690
And right now, consumers are conservative. You

00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:38.910
really got to grab their attention and put the

00:31:38.910 --> 00:31:40.890
liquid in front of them, give them a good price

00:31:40.890 --> 00:31:43.890
and a good option. And that's why we like the

00:31:43.890 --> 00:31:46.430
Horseneck, the 101, the Sherry. Because now with

00:31:46.430 --> 00:31:48.789
this new pricing strategy, someone will take

00:31:48.789 --> 00:31:51.970
that risk. Three months ago, it was tough. It

00:31:51.970 --> 00:31:56.490
was very, very tough. So because when COVID and

00:31:56.490 --> 00:32:00.289
everyone put all those probably hundreds of thousands

00:32:00.289 --> 00:32:04.549
of barrels to sit, well, they're all ready. It's

00:32:04.549 --> 00:32:08.529
2025, almost 2026. So there's a lot of juice

00:32:08.529 --> 00:32:11.049
and people are drinking less than ever before.

00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.259
So that's another faction that you're looking

00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:14.960
at. Yeah, that's a new cultural trend. What the

00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:17.180
hell's going on? What's wrong with these people?

00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:19.920
You have a lot of things. The weight loss drug,

00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:23.319
you know, the Ozepics, the GOPs, you know, you

00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:25.039
don't want to drink as much anymore. People are

00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.500
being more health conscious, which I'm all for,

00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:29.420
too, as well. You have the new generation that

00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:33.980
are drinking THC or smoking. There's alternatives.

00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:36.380
There's a couple of other things that people

00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:39.309
are using to get their... They're kicks, you

00:32:39.309 --> 00:32:42.710
know? So they're fix. Yeah, that is huge. I mean,

00:32:42.730 --> 00:32:45.730
I don't subscribe to that, but it's a huge growing

00:32:45.730 --> 00:32:49.690
market. When Governor Abbott did not veto that

00:32:49.690 --> 00:32:52.250
and they allowed it to push it through, the Total

00:32:52.250 --> 00:32:56.930
Wine here in Plano, Texas, they have an aisle

00:32:56.930 --> 00:33:00.250
that they were just like, that is probably the

00:33:00.250 --> 00:33:03.289
largest revenue that they're taking in the entire

00:33:03.289 --> 00:33:07.390
store. That is crazy. And these are THC drinks.

00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:10.119
Yes. Correct. Yeah, you're seeing the THC drinks.

00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:12.619
You're seeing more aisles with non -alcoholics.

00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:15.240
So people are, I mean, even Noah and I, you know,

00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:18.039
throughout the year, we'll go maybe a few months

00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:20.059
and we're like, hey, we're not drinking. Hold

00:33:20.059 --> 00:33:23.799
on, hold on, hold on. Who brought the non -alcoholic

00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:27.140
beer and put it in my refrigerator? It wasn't

00:33:27.140 --> 00:33:30.019
me. I wasn't there. All right. I don't know.

00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:31.640
I woke up the next morning after our Halloween

00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.099
party and there was a fucking 12 -pack. It wasn't

00:33:34.099 --> 00:33:36.160
even opened. You could tell it was an accident.

00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:37.519
I don't know if they're fucking with me or what

00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:39.240
was going on with that, but I just had to stand.

00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:42.440
I don't know who it was, but that was just...

00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:44.299
That would break the code. I would never do that.

00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:47.480
Anyways, I'm sorry. Go on. No, but I mean, what

00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:49.279
kind of was it? Because, you know, with beer,

00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:51.339
they're making them taste like the real thing

00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:54.920
sometimes. It tasted like a hint. I had an open

00:33:54.920 --> 00:33:57.200
one. I was kind of like, well. Well, if you drink

00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:58.720
all of them, you may get a buzz. There's like

00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.180
a .1 in there. Yeah. Drink all of it. Takes the

00:34:01.180 --> 00:34:03.240
whole case. It makes so much sense. Seven in

00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:06.259
the morning, you grabbed another one. Okay. Well,

00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:07.859
you can. It's non -alcoholic. You can have one

00:34:07.859 --> 00:34:09.039
right away. Well, that's why he was pissed off.

00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:12.670
The only thing in here is non -alcoholic. You

00:34:12.670 --> 00:34:14.469
can have it with your eggs and toast and bacon.

00:34:14.789 --> 00:34:17.230
Right. No, it did not taste very good, though.

00:34:17.309 --> 00:34:19.289
I didn't enjoy it. It's got a little hint of

00:34:19.289 --> 00:34:20.849
orange. They are getting better, though. Yeah,

00:34:20.949 --> 00:34:23.010
they're getting better. I mean, O'Doul's is not

00:34:23.010 --> 00:34:26.050
the go -to anymore. I mean, Heineken has one.

00:34:26.110 --> 00:34:29.230
Corona has one. But look, everything is trends.

00:34:29.429 --> 00:34:31.449
It's trends. Tequila's hot right now. Any agave

00:34:31.449 --> 00:34:34.650
spirit's hot right now. Love tequila. Yeah. I

00:34:34.650 --> 00:34:37.289
mean, if one goes up. something will come down.

00:34:37.809 --> 00:34:40.590
And that's okay. But trends are like roller coasters.

00:34:40.630 --> 00:34:42.210
They come, they go, they come and they go. But

00:34:42.210 --> 00:34:46.230
what never dies and what brands or any companies,

00:34:46.269 --> 00:34:50.730
they need to start branding. Because if they

00:34:50.730 --> 00:34:52.530
start telling their story more, if they start

00:34:52.530 --> 00:34:55.389
branding, people love to be part of a culture.

00:34:55.510 --> 00:34:57.469
They love to be part of a brand. They want to

00:34:57.469 --> 00:35:01.300
be part of that. What separates a lot of these

00:35:01.300 --> 00:35:03.860
brands is like, start telling that story constantly,

00:35:04.059 --> 00:35:06.219
constantly, constantly. When we first started

00:35:06.219 --> 00:35:08.119
our company, and this is what I see a lot of

00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:12.059
people that do what we do, they market the brands,

00:35:12.179 --> 00:35:13.880
just the brands that they represent, but they

00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:16.280
never market their company. And from the very

00:35:16.280 --> 00:35:19.309
beginning, we have to always... NVU, NVU, NVU,

00:35:19.309 --> 00:35:21.849
NVU. Because brands will come and go, but NVU

00:35:21.849 --> 00:35:24.550
is always going to stay here. And now that name

00:35:24.550 --> 00:35:26.030
is like people in the industry are like, oh,

00:35:26.050 --> 00:35:28.250
I know what NVU is. And that is like something

00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:30.969
that will make you money eventually. If you're

00:35:30.969 --> 00:35:32.789
not branding right now on any of your social

00:35:32.789 --> 00:35:34.769
medias or you're getting your name out there,

00:35:34.909 --> 00:35:38.309
you are wasting space right now. And there's

00:35:38.309 --> 00:35:40.650
a lot of missed opportunity. You have to brand

00:35:40.650 --> 00:35:43.309
as much as you can and get that story out there.

00:35:43.530 --> 00:35:47.409
Right. So we did do that. Absolutely. Going back

00:35:47.409 --> 00:35:51.730
to your question, we have not slowed down on

00:35:51.730 --> 00:35:54.909
the amount of phone calls and emails of businesses

00:35:54.909 --> 00:35:57.329
who want a partner. Are you seeing it in the

00:35:57.329 --> 00:36:00.329
whiskey lane or the vodkas, the tequilas? Whiskies,

00:36:00.429 --> 00:36:03.389
tequilas, and a lot of mezcals. A lot of mezcals.

00:36:04.210 --> 00:36:06.829
Mezcal, really. Which I love. I love mezcals.

00:36:06.889 --> 00:36:09.469
I mean, I would think this, I mean, you guys

00:36:09.469 --> 00:36:13.230
stand to benefit from a stall in the market because

00:36:13.230 --> 00:36:15.719
they need your help. Like they're thinking they

00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:18.059
can do it on their own. They think they have

00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:20.000
everything they need, you know, and then they're

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:23.039
like, this isn't working. We need people like

00:36:23.039 --> 00:36:25.820
you. If we do what we've done, we'll get what

00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:28.280
we have. And people are realizing that what they're

00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:30.579
doing is not working. Right. And so now they're

00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:33.719
having to think creatively, probably get on camera

00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:36.860
or talk on a video before that they never would

00:36:36.860 --> 00:36:39.340
have done that before. And it's like, for example,

00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:42.530
like this partnership with Tito's and Lalo. That

00:36:42.530 --> 00:36:44.389
was a very big deal in our industry. So everyone

00:36:44.389 --> 00:36:46.769
wants to be now that next brand that does that.

00:36:46.889 --> 00:36:50.269
So now I think people are getting more social

00:36:50.269 --> 00:36:53.190
media savvy, more podcast savvy, or more creative.

00:36:53.230 --> 00:36:55.750
They're being forced to. Right. So if someone

00:36:55.750 --> 00:36:58.929
wants to order one of your brands that you sponsor,

00:36:59.170 --> 00:37:03.190
do they have to go through you? No. No? No. I

00:37:03.190 --> 00:37:06.190
mean, they have to buy it either. At the liquor

00:37:06.190 --> 00:37:08.909
store or at a bar? I meant like the liquor store.

00:37:09.110 --> 00:37:12.190
Like, let's say... Oh, like if they want to partner

00:37:12.190 --> 00:37:14.550
with us. So we're not a distributor. You're not,

00:37:14.670 --> 00:37:17.969
but I mean... So the way that Texas... Frame

00:37:17.969 --> 00:37:20.650
that right. Yeah. So we work closely with...

00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:24.269
So let's just take Horseneck, for example. Horseneck

00:37:24.269 --> 00:37:26.789
makes the product. They sell it to the distributor.

00:37:27.230 --> 00:37:30.630
The distributor then sells it to a retail store.

00:37:30.969 --> 00:37:32.750
That's how they can get that product. Right.

00:37:33.070 --> 00:37:35.789
That retail store, if they're considered a wholesaler

00:37:35.789 --> 00:37:37.570
or a class B, they can sell it to the bars and

00:37:37.570 --> 00:37:40.269
restaurants. So what we do is we work very, and

00:37:40.269 --> 00:37:43.989
this is also a very painstaking process of managing

00:37:43.989 --> 00:37:48.510
or communicating with the distributor. And a

00:37:48.510 --> 00:37:51.610
lot of brands don't realize that is a huge headache

00:37:51.610 --> 00:37:53.909
on its own. So do you go to like Benny Keith

00:37:53.909 --> 00:37:56.269
and these distributors? Benny Keith is a distributor.

00:37:57.440 --> 00:37:59.880
With our brands right now, all three of them

00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:02.039
are with three different distributors. Yeah.

00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:03.840
But you have to go to them, right? Is that right?

00:38:04.139 --> 00:38:07.699
We are forming partnerships with them because

00:38:07.699 --> 00:38:10.760
Noe and I are just two people. But the more people

00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:12.679
that we can influence, the more people that are

00:38:12.679 --> 00:38:14.599
going to be out there selling our brand. I see.

00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:16.599
Or the more people that are going to be, even

00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:18.280
if we're influenced and somebody's listening

00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:19.760
to this podcast, they're like, oh, I want to

00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:21.699
go and pick up a bottle of Live Oak Vodka or

00:38:21.699 --> 00:38:24.000
a Horse Neck Bourbon or Swift Single Malt Whiskey.

00:38:25.639 --> 00:38:28.940
Things like that help. But ultimately, when we

00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:32.320
try to really partner with a distributor, we're

00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:34.860
trying to get the sales team on board, the management

00:38:34.860 --> 00:38:37.320
on board. But Noe and I are not delusional either.

00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:40.340
There's a lot of shift in the industry. So we

00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:43.519
know that distributors are oversaturated with

00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:47.420
brands. So we can't just sit in our desk and

00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:50.400
bark orders at them. We have to be out there

00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:52.420
selling. We have to be out there doing it ourselves.

00:38:52.840 --> 00:38:56.079
We have to be, we never stop doing it. We've

00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:58.460
always been a company or a people that, you know,

00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:00.119
we'll never forget about you, but we don't wait

00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.539
on you. And we have to go out and make things

00:39:02.539 --> 00:39:04.739
happen. Especially again, we're a new company.

00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:07.599
A lot of our brands that we represent, you know,

00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:09.659
exception of one who's been around for a while.

00:39:11.019 --> 00:39:12.880
Nobody's going to talk about your brands, but

00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:14.500
you, so you have to be out there. You have to,

00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:18.780
it's a constant fight to be out there doing that.

00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:21.880
Day in and day out. So not only are you kind

00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:24.500
of guiding the distilleries through the process,

00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:26.599
end -to -end process, but you're also out there

00:39:26.599 --> 00:39:29.199
being their advocate and using your connection

00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:32.400
and your influence to get their name out in front

00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:34.619
of somebody else's. Combined, there's 40 years

00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:37.300
here. And so we use that to our advantage. We

00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:40.780
use that to influence high up on the distributor,

00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:43.480
sales, management, everybody. Or even buyers,

00:39:43.500 --> 00:39:46.039
too. I mean, key independent retail accounts,

00:39:46.219 --> 00:39:49.530
bars, restaurants, chains. You know, that's a

00:39:49.530 --> 00:39:51.909
lot of relationships that we've built over the

00:39:51.909 --> 00:39:54.210
years. Now, we're also, because we have those

00:39:54.210 --> 00:39:56.309
relationships, it's not always a shoe -in because

00:39:56.309 --> 00:39:59.630
they're like, well, you know, come back when

00:39:59.630 --> 00:40:01.130
you have this, this, this, and that. Yeah, sure.

00:40:01.349 --> 00:40:04.070
So, you know, and again, we get kicked down a

00:40:04.070 --> 00:40:05.610
lot, you know, as far as like, oh, your brands

00:40:05.610 --> 00:40:08.030
are not big enough. But one thing that brands,

00:40:08.289 --> 00:40:11.429
they probably do or don't know, we have so much

00:40:11.429 --> 00:40:13.750
fight. If you ever want somebody in your corner,

00:40:13.829 --> 00:40:16.809
it's NVU. Because even if somebody tells me no,

00:40:16.869 --> 00:40:19.139
it fuels me. And I'm like, all right, I'll come

00:40:19.139 --> 00:40:22.840
back. Watch. Because when somebody slams a door

00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:24.739
in my face or whatever, then I'm just going to

00:40:24.739 --> 00:40:26.920
go and do it myself and prove everybody wrong.

00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:30.440
That's just how I'm built. So that's another

00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:32.780
thing that you don't really see in a lot of maybe

00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:34.699
people that are representing your brands or whatever.

00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:36.960
They're kind of like, okay, whatever. They said

00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:39.940
no. They said no. Well, no. I'm going to make

00:40:39.940 --> 00:40:41.179
sure I'm going to come back. That reminds me

00:40:41.179 --> 00:40:45.889
of the Chris Farley movie. Tommy Boy? Yeah, Tommy

00:40:45.889 --> 00:40:49.530
Boy. David Spade and he are trying to sell brakes.

00:40:50.489 --> 00:40:52.650
They're like, we don't want it. He's like, oh,

00:40:52.690 --> 00:40:54.630
okay. And they just walk out the door and David

00:40:54.630 --> 00:40:56.050
Spade's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes

00:40:56.050 --> 00:40:58.650
here, man. You got to have some sort of resiliency

00:40:58.650 --> 00:41:01.030
to get back in there and fight for it. For sure.

00:41:01.389 --> 00:41:05.070
All right, so how good is your golf game? That's

00:41:05.070 --> 00:41:07.349
not part of your strategy? Zero. No, but I've

00:41:07.349 --> 00:41:10.630
always told him I want to learn golf because

00:41:10.630 --> 00:41:13.250
the best business is done on... golf courses.

00:41:13.250 --> 00:41:14.849
That was the point I was making. I figured you

00:41:14.849 --> 00:41:17.309
guys were traveling and golfing. Especially as

00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:19.469
a woman. I don't really see... I don't know.

00:41:19.469 --> 00:41:22.650
You tell me. You better hit the driving range

00:41:22.650 --> 00:41:25.369
like a hundred times. I'll do it. That should

00:41:25.369 --> 00:41:27.170
be part of it because I wouldn't even focus on

00:41:27.170 --> 00:41:28.690
playing golf. I would just go to the driving

00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:31.130
range, get that muscle memory going. Because

00:41:31.130 --> 00:41:32.969
after you get the muscle memory, then it's a

00:41:32.969 --> 00:41:35.750
game. Because otherwise, you start off the first

00:41:35.750 --> 00:41:37.650
hole and by the time you get to the 18th hole,

00:41:37.769 --> 00:41:40.630
you're broken. You have no idea which ends up.

00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:43.780
But you guys already know this, but executives,

00:41:44.139 --> 00:41:47.679
directors, senior people will never turn down

00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:50.619
a free game of golf. Ever. And I think that's

00:41:50.619 --> 00:41:52.059
definitely coming in year three. So that should

00:41:52.059 --> 00:41:54.360
be part of your strategy. Year four, yeah. That

00:41:54.360 --> 00:41:57.519
and some deep sea fishing. Deep sea fishing.

00:41:57.780 --> 00:42:00.920
I'm telling you. I'm telling you what executives

00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:04.619
and VPs and CIOs. And these guys, they will never

00:42:04.619 --> 00:42:06.880
turn down. That's where they would do their.

00:42:06.900 --> 00:42:10.389
Deep lake, like up on Texoma. Well, you guys

00:42:10.389 --> 00:42:13.590
travel everywhere. Let's talk about that. So

00:42:13.590 --> 00:42:17.630
you do maybe not international, mostly continental

00:42:17.630 --> 00:42:19.690
United States? Where do you travel? Well, right

00:42:19.690 --> 00:42:22.190
now, everything is just Texas. So we're a little

00:42:22.190 --> 00:42:23.809
bit, and from this aspect, we're a little bit

00:42:23.809 --> 00:42:25.789
old school. We believe in doing business in person.

00:42:26.150 --> 00:42:28.929
So we are very much, we'll come and we'll sit

00:42:28.929 --> 00:42:31.710
in front of you. We strategically plan meetings,

00:42:32.150 --> 00:42:34.730
presentations. We have a shitload of meetings

00:42:34.730 --> 00:42:38.340
tomorrow. around that. And the idea is if you're

00:42:38.340 --> 00:42:39.800
going to do business with us, you're going to

00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:41.619
meet us and we're going to be here and we're

00:42:41.619 --> 00:42:43.239
going to come and do events with you and be part

00:42:43.239 --> 00:42:45.559
of your business regardless of how many miles

00:42:45.559 --> 00:42:48.539
my truck has just got out of the shop. But I

00:42:48.539 --> 00:42:50.500
bought it with three miles and it's been five

00:42:50.500 --> 00:42:54.440
years and it's got 343 ,000 miles on it. And

00:42:54.440 --> 00:42:57.380
it's mostly just because we, from that aspect,

00:42:57.579 --> 00:43:00.380
we're very much old school. Very nice. So we

00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:03.159
get that extended warranty? It's gone. Well,

00:43:03.179 --> 00:43:05.039
hold on. What kind of truck is it that matters

00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:08.659
here? Oh, boy. It's not an EV, is it? It's not

00:43:08.659 --> 00:43:11.760
a Honda. I will always be indebted to Ford. Very

00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:14.280
nice. That's what I have. I have a Ford. I got

00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:16.400
a Bronco. We're loving Ford right now. After

00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:18.860
Hurricane Harvey, they did us very well, and

00:43:18.860 --> 00:43:20.760
I will always be a Ford person. Yeah, my Ford

00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:22.760
is broken right now. Really? I have to have it

00:43:22.760 --> 00:43:25.460
towed, yeah. What? I think it's the fuel pump.

00:43:26.380 --> 00:43:29.260
Yikes. Get on YouTube and figure it out. 13.

00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:32.280
13. Yeah. I already swatched the fuse out because

00:43:32.280 --> 00:43:35.329
they said, well, the fuse. It was really problematic

00:43:35.329 --> 00:43:37.610
with that rain, so I went out and got a new fuse,

00:43:37.650 --> 00:43:40.670
popped it in. Still a problem. The starter, it

00:43:40.670 --> 00:43:42.730
tries to start, but the engine doesn't turn over.

00:43:43.469 --> 00:43:46.969
So it's not getting the fuel or the spark or

00:43:46.969 --> 00:43:49.610
something. Something like that, yeah. It's tough.

00:43:49.909 --> 00:43:54.130
Put a kick in the butt. Minor things like that,

00:43:54.170 --> 00:43:55.650
and you guys being on the road all the time,

00:43:55.690 --> 00:43:57.829
that stuff cannot happen. You've got to have

00:43:57.829 --> 00:44:00.710
your shit working. We do. Now, are you together

00:44:00.710 --> 00:44:03.510
all the time, or do you divide and conquer? Divide

00:44:03.510 --> 00:44:05.329
and conquer. Important meetings, we're together.

00:44:05.550 --> 00:44:08.730
Or podcasts, we're always together. And yeah,

00:44:08.889 --> 00:44:11.630
no, we've learned that we have our roles. And

00:44:11.630 --> 00:44:15.050
so Victoria has her side of the building. I have

00:44:15.050 --> 00:44:16.989
my side of the building and we stay in each other's

00:44:16.989 --> 00:44:19.170
lanes. And every now and then we'll cross over.

00:44:19.329 --> 00:44:22.210
But for the most part now, like I said, big distributor

00:44:22.210 --> 00:44:24.670
meetings, chain meetings, we'll always do those

00:44:24.670 --> 00:44:28.550
together. Nice. That's great. You guys have a

00:44:28.550 --> 00:44:30.829
great rapport with each other. You have great,

00:44:30.909 --> 00:44:33.429
based on what I've seen, The relationship between

00:44:33.429 --> 00:44:37.849
you two is dynamic. I mean, it's so important

00:44:37.849 --> 00:44:40.010
for what you guys are doing. And the fact that

00:44:40.010 --> 00:44:42.090
you can lean on each other and you're an emotional

00:44:42.090 --> 00:44:48.230
guy and you're a dominant woman. So you've watched

00:44:48.230 --> 00:44:51.329
the videos. Was that noticeable? I've read about

00:44:51.329 --> 00:44:53.070
you guys. Hold on, hold on. What now? I didn't

00:44:53.070 --> 00:44:54.449
watch the same video. What are we talking about

00:44:54.449 --> 00:44:57.349
here? Well, my point is that you've got a great

00:44:57.349 --> 00:44:59.789
chemistry. I mean, you've got obviously a great

00:44:59.789 --> 00:45:03.429
relationship. Because look, the rule of thumb

00:45:03.429 --> 00:45:06.150
is don't go into business with family because

00:45:06.150 --> 00:45:09.789
it'll destroy you. And I think that you guys

00:45:09.789 --> 00:45:11.909
have these guardrails up where you stay in your

00:45:11.909 --> 00:45:14.250
own lane and you allow each other to do their

00:45:14.250 --> 00:45:16.670
job. And then you got to hold each other accountable,

00:45:16.889 --> 00:45:19.789
which is also excellent. I admire that. I applaud

00:45:19.789 --> 00:45:22.550
you guys for doing it. And I'm excited. I was

00:45:22.550 --> 00:45:24.949
super excited waiting for you guys to get on

00:45:24.949 --> 00:45:26.369
the podcast so we can have these conversations.

00:45:26.369 --> 00:45:29.699
Did you go into business with Tara? But my wife

00:45:29.699 --> 00:45:32.639
and I don't have that type of relationship. What

00:45:32.639 --> 00:45:34.239
about you and Shelly? Could you go into business?

00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:40.460
No. And on advice of counsel, I decline any further

00:45:40.460 --> 00:45:43.599
answers. Yeah, my wife and I owned a business

00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:45.760
for a short time, and it worked out. She ran

00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:48.519
it. I filled in when she wanted time off, basically.

00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:52.039
So she basically did the thing, the storefront,

00:45:52.159 --> 00:45:55.099
and I would relieve her. So it worked out. She

00:45:55.099 --> 00:45:57.489
ran everything, though. So it worked. I mean,

00:45:57.489 --> 00:46:00.469
everybody's got different strengths, man. Everybody's

00:46:00.469 --> 00:46:03.110
got comfortable with doing different things.

00:46:03.230 --> 00:46:05.269
You got to leverage the strengths of each of

00:46:05.269 --> 00:46:06.710
you, right? You're two very different people,

00:46:06.789 --> 00:46:08.949
I would imagine. Yeah, we are. And we recognize

00:46:08.949 --> 00:46:10.670
that. And we're not trying to compete with each

00:46:10.670 --> 00:46:15.019
other. And, you know, Noe is... If you're producing

00:46:15.019 --> 00:46:17.159
a movie, this is the best way I can describe

00:46:17.159 --> 00:46:20.219
it. He's like the producer. He puts a lot of

00:46:20.219 --> 00:46:23.039
stuff together. He keeps everything in motion.

00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:26.199
He's very, very calm on certain things. And I'm

00:46:26.199 --> 00:46:29.199
kind of like the CEO of the movie studio where

00:46:29.199 --> 00:46:32.139
it's like a bunch of vision, a bunch of passion,

00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:35.460
heart, but I can also talk some major shit and

00:46:35.460 --> 00:46:38.480
get like, this has to be done. And we have to

00:46:38.480 --> 00:46:41.780
get it done this way. And it works out like that.

00:46:43.409 --> 00:46:46.429
You know, he may be on the little, not necessarily

00:46:46.429 --> 00:46:48.409
on the softer side, but he is. He's just very

00:46:48.409 --> 00:46:50.269
calm on that, and I'm more of the aggressor.

00:46:50.369 --> 00:46:52.730
Good cop, bad cop kind of a thing, right? Yeah,

00:46:52.929 --> 00:46:55.030
maybe. Yeah, I don't know. I just grew up like

00:46:55.030 --> 00:46:57.070
that, and I've always been like that. You know,

00:46:57.170 --> 00:46:59.210
we talked about this the other day. I have a

00:46:59.210 --> 00:47:02.070
lot of masculine energy from what I was told.

00:47:03.789 --> 00:47:05.909
I'll tell you this, when you are a strong woman.

00:47:05.989 --> 00:47:09.690
I don't like the way you word that. I do. You're

00:47:09.690 --> 00:47:11.269
making us feel very small right now. But in a

00:47:11.269 --> 00:47:13.889
very good way because, look, you know, strong

00:47:13.889 --> 00:47:16.070
women need somebody like Noe because there's

00:47:16.070 --> 00:47:18.090
times where I have so much energy. I do need

00:47:18.090 --> 00:47:20.150
somebody to hold me. I need somebody to be like,

00:47:20.230 --> 00:47:22.329
okay, it's good. We're good. You don't have to

00:47:22.329 --> 00:47:23.949
go and kill everybody. You know what I mean?

00:47:23.949 --> 00:47:26.389
Right, right, right, right. But he's on retainer.

00:47:28.159 --> 00:47:30.300
but yeah but I think you know sometimes business

00:47:30.300 --> 00:47:32.820
is war and life is the same way and so it's like

00:47:32.820 --> 00:47:36.110
you need somebody to like man I just that person

00:47:36.110 --> 00:47:38.130
that you know has your back and and that's why

00:47:38.130 --> 00:47:40.909
Noe and I have always worked out very well in

00:47:40.909 --> 00:47:43.710
that and and we never say like when people like

00:47:43.710 --> 00:47:45.550
oh who runs the business I'm like we both really

00:47:45.550 --> 00:47:48.010
do because if I'm not here I don't know what

00:47:48.010 --> 00:47:50.110
how Noe would and if Noe's not here I don't know

00:47:50.110 --> 00:47:53.329
how I would do it so we we complement each other

00:47:53.329 --> 00:47:55.590
and we we do stay in our lanes it's like hey

00:47:55.590 --> 00:47:57.050
you take care of that you take it there's no

00:47:57.050 --> 00:47:59.610
like we you know I guess in a little bit you

00:47:59.610 --> 00:48:01.530
there is some ego that we're trying to figure

00:48:01.530 --> 00:48:03.639
out but then we're like wait a minute the main

00:48:03.639 --> 00:48:05.519
mission is for the business to move forward.

00:48:05.559 --> 00:48:07.739
It's all about the business. Sometimes we have

00:48:07.739 --> 00:48:10.139
a hard time separating wife and business partner

00:48:10.139 --> 00:48:13.800
a little bit because we're so business orientated

00:48:13.800 --> 00:48:17.300
that we're like, oh shit, have we like said I

00:48:17.300 --> 00:48:19.539
love you today? Have we gone on a date? Like

00:48:19.539 --> 00:48:21.860
fuck, have we done anything where we're just

00:48:21.860 --> 00:48:24.480
kind of just me and you? A lot of times, you

00:48:24.480 --> 00:48:27.780
said you guys travel separately a lot? We travel

00:48:27.780 --> 00:48:30.480
a lot together, but sometimes when the calendar

00:48:30.480 --> 00:48:33.619
is very hectic, we have to separate and like,

00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:35.139
hey, you got to stay in this market. I'll stay

00:48:35.139 --> 00:48:37.059
in this market. Or we're in the same market.

00:48:37.059 --> 00:48:38.860
But how long are you guys away from each other?

00:48:38.900 --> 00:48:41.260
Two, three days at the most? At the most, three

00:48:41.260 --> 00:48:44.639
days. Okay. That's fair. And frankly, be honest.

00:48:44.820 --> 00:48:47.280
I mean, those are healthy. They are. Yeah. Those

00:48:47.280 --> 00:48:49.239
are healthy. But you're going over your analytics.

00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:52.719
That's mainly your pillow talk. You're going

00:48:52.719 --> 00:48:55.159
over the numbers and the volumes. You know what's

00:48:55.159 --> 00:48:57.639
really helped us recently is cigars. We have

00:48:57.639 --> 00:49:00.719
our cigar nights now. And that is husband -wife.

00:49:01.340 --> 00:49:05.579
That is it. There's no business talk. It's hard.

00:49:05.860 --> 00:49:08.500
I mean, look. It'll come up. There is no balancing.

00:49:08.780 --> 00:49:12.260
When you are building a business, there's no

00:49:12.260 --> 00:49:15.239
balance to like, oh, my regular life and this.

00:49:15.779 --> 00:49:18.219
It blurs. It's part of my life. It blurs everywhere.

00:49:18.360 --> 00:49:20.420
Business is part of our life. So when we are

00:49:20.420 --> 00:49:22.679
there smoking cigars, drinking whiskey or bourbons

00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:24.900
or whatever we're doing, we're vision casting.

00:49:24.980 --> 00:49:27.000
We're like, oh shoot, we should do this. This

00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:28.280
is where we should go. This is what we should

00:49:28.280 --> 00:49:30.480
do. Like, oh, what if we pivot and do this? Or

00:49:30.480 --> 00:49:32.940
what if we suggest this? So it's never, we can,

00:49:33.039 --> 00:49:36.019
I can't even imagine. I don't even know one conversation

00:49:36.019 --> 00:49:39.440
where we have not ever talked. Business. Or talk

00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:41.340
something, which is also a good write -off if

00:49:41.340 --> 00:49:44.000
I'm talking business. There we go. Yes. There

00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:46.639
we go. You know, the podcast guys, I mean, we

00:49:46.639 --> 00:49:49.340
have gone out and smoked cigars. It's not our

00:49:49.340 --> 00:49:53.679
thing. Every now and then, I kind of like them

00:49:53.679 --> 00:49:57.849
once in a while. I used to have really bad stomach

00:49:57.849 --> 00:50:01.650
issues, and so I stopped doing it. But lately,

00:50:01.869 --> 00:50:04.809
that hasn't happened. And I have a lot of friends

00:50:04.809 --> 00:50:07.110
that smoke them. So I found myself kind of like

00:50:07.110 --> 00:50:09.969
taking a puff here and there, talking about cigars,

00:50:09.989 --> 00:50:14.530
listeners. And I like doing the smaller, lighter

00:50:14.530 --> 00:50:17.610
ones. The darker ones are kind of heavy on me.

00:50:17.710 --> 00:50:19.650
But look, I want to take an opportunity right

00:50:19.650 --> 00:50:21.909
now to let's dive into what we're drinking tonight.

00:50:22.550 --> 00:50:25.460
Yep. Can you do that? Yeah. I'm done with mine.

00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:27.780
Yeah. Well, here. We've got to finish this bottle,

00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:30.440
and the rest of it's going into the infinity

00:50:30.440 --> 00:50:32.579
bottle. So for those listeners out there and

00:50:32.579 --> 00:50:36.559
even in -view brands, did you just slam that?

00:50:36.639 --> 00:50:41.199
It was half full. Lord. It was not. We have an

00:50:41.199 --> 00:50:42.840
infinity bottle. I don't know if you guys noticed

00:50:42.840 --> 00:50:44.239
on the table when you were walking in there,

00:50:44.300 --> 00:50:47.400
there's a large gallon sitting there. I mentioned

00:50:47.400 --> 00:50:50.280
to you on the phone call. Over 80 bottles in

00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:52.300
there. It's a ridiculous amount. So what we'll

00:50:52.300 --> 00:50:54.980
do is we'll dump the remainder of that in there.

00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:57.500
We'll make a notation of exactly what it is.

00:50:57.639 --> 00:50:59.039
And during the halftime, we'll give you guys

00:50:59.039 --> 00:51:02.679
a bounce on that. But what we got today is this

00:51:02.679 --> 00:51:05.480
is Cooperstown Select. It's handcrafted in New

00:51:05.480 --> 00:51:08.659
York. It's a four -grain mash. Is this a store

00:51:08.659 --> 00:51:11.099
pick? What's the little sticker up there on the

00:51:11.099 --> 00:51:14.139
top? You know what? This is pathetic because

00:51:14.139 --> 00:51:17.260
I have such bad eyesight that it's gone bad.

00:51:17.659 --> 00:51:21.079
All right, so the mash bill is corn, rye, malted

00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:23.639
barley from a local farm, and the fourth grain

00:51:23.639 --> 00:51:27.820
is oats. I don't think we've had many with oats.

00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:34.039
That's a rare fourth grain. Is this the same

00:51:34.039 --> 00:51:37.980
bottle? Cooperstown Select. Is this 100 proof?

00:51:38.179 --> 00:51:42.030
It sure is, yeah. Well, this one I think we got,

00:51:42.150 --> 00:51:44.510
frankly, I thought we got, this is one of our

00:51:44.510 --> 00:51:48.329
original ones because when we first started acquiring

00:51:48.329 --> 00:51:51.670
all these bourbon bottles, we were like going

00:51:51.670 --> 00:51:54.650
to, Friday night would be our excursion. We'd

00:51:54.650 --> 00:51:57.989
go to Total Wine, Liquor King, Specs, and we'd

00:51:57.989 --> 00:52:00.670
kind of shop around and pick up a $30, $40, $50

00:52:00.670 --> 00:52:02.969
bottle. Each of us would buy. We would each buy

00:52:02.969 --> 00:52:05.889
it. To start building up our collection, right?

00:52:05.949 --> 00:52:07.389
Yeah. And we did it. And then we started like,

00:52:07.630 --> 00:52:11.239
hey, man. Hey, Paul keeps buying these bad ones.

00:52:11.340 --> 00:52:13.559
Yeah, of course. That's not how it went down.

00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:16.420
We started diving into like, we gravitated towards

00:52:16.420 --> 00:52:18.820
the wheat ones because there's a process when

00:52:18.820 --> 00:52:20.900
people, most people won't just dive in head first

00:52:20.900 --> 00:52:22.860
and start, hey, I like rye. You know, usually

00:52:22.860 --> 00:52:24.940
it's a softer, easier to drink one, which are

00:52:24.940 --> 00:52:27.579
the wheat ones. And that's what we kind of started

00:52:27.579 --> 00:52:29.559
getting, like Nine Bandit, you know, Maker's

00:52:29.559 --> 00:52:32.389
Mark, which I don't really. That's like one of

00:52:32.389 --> 00:52:34.989
the original wellers, I guess. Yeah, wellers.

00:52:35.070 --> 00:52:38.650
But then we started noticing that the more we

00:52:38.650 --> 00:52:41.889
started tasting them and sampling them, we started

00:52:41.889 --> 00:52:45.289
enjoying the more higher proofs and the rise

00:52:45.289 --> 00:52:48.210
and the four grains. The single barrels are just

00:52:48.210 --> 00:52:51.150
terrific. Well, we also started noticing that

00:52:51.150 --> 00:52:55.670
the price point was drifting its way up. And

00:52:55.670 --> 00:52:57.929
it was, I can't believe it, but it was better.

00:52:58.150 --> 00:53:00.769
Generally. And that's okay, too. Because what

00:53:00.769 --> 00:53:03.889
we ended up doing then is, well, the producer,

00:53:04.130 --> 00:53:06.690
Chuck, my son used to be the producer for several

00:53:06.690 --> 00:53:09.010
years. And now that Chuck's here and he's drinking

00:53:09.010 --> 00:53:10.590
the bourbon, we're like, well, fuck, now we can

00:53:10.590 --> 00:53:13.030
split it four ways. That's right. Thank God for

00:53:13.030 --> 00:53:15.329
Chuck. Yeah, thank God. So now we can drop $100,

00:53:15.670 --> 00:53:20.550
$150, $200, $300 on a bottle. God, easy. Oh,

00:53:20.550 --> 00:53:22.650
come on. We just kept going up. We're not making

00:53:22.650 --> 00:53:25.110
any money. All we're doing is spending money.

00:53:25.210 --> 00:53:26.449
As a matter of fact, we need to talk to you guys

00:53:26.449 --> 00:53:28.429
about how we can make money. But we do. We do

00:53:28.429 --> 00:53:31.730
buy them, is my point. We just enjoy them. Anyway,

00:53:32.150 --> 00:53:34.590
so that's kind of how this whole thing started

00:53:34.590 --> 00:53:37.710
happening and how our collection started growing.

00:53:37.949 --> 00:53:41.110
It's been fun. I like that. So you guys really

00:53:41.110 --> 00:53:43.010
didn't know too much about bourbon? We don't

00:53:43.010 --> 00:53:45.070
really know anything about bourbon. I love that

00:53:45.070 --> 00:53:49.550
because that is the best thing. There's no bias.

00:53:49.710 --> 00:53:52.489
You're just like, okay, well, this looks good,

00:53:52.550 --> 00:53:54.429
so let me try this. And I think that's the best

00:53:54.429 --> 00:53:57.469
way to try to explore new things. I mean, you

00:53:57.469 --> 00:54:01.880
have a lot of... I guess. We've turned into snobs.

00:54:02.139 --> 00:54:05.039
Well, we're trying not to. Come back to your

00:54:05.039 --> 00:54:07.079
humble beginnings because look, I mean, you got

00:54:07.079 --> 00:54:10.739
it in every category. Wine, bourbons, whiskeys,

00:54:10.739 --> 00:54:13.960
tequilas. And all I say is like, man, for anybody,

00:54:14.079 --> 00:54:17.500
if it tastes good to you, drink it. It's your

00:54:17.500 --> 00:54:21.059
money. When I was bartending, I had a regular

00:54:21.059 --> 00:54:23.500
that would come in all the time. And he, you

00:54:23.500 --> 00:54:26.000
know, he had a lot of money and he would, he,

00:54:26.699 --> 00:54:29.000
Ciroc vodka was his thing, right? With one ice.

00:54:29.159 --> 00:54:30.679
But then, you know, he's like, oh, well, what's

00:54:30.679 --> 00:54:33.199
that Louis Trey? Let's get some of that. Let's

00:54:33.199 --> 00:54:35.599
get shots of that. And what is it? Like, do you

00:54:35.599 --> 00:54:38.320
know, you know, $30? You know, this was back

00:54:38.320 --> 00:54:42.219
then. Yeah. It was probably 50. 50 a shot. Is

00:54:42.219 --> 00:54:44.320
that like cognac? Yeah. Oh, Louis Trey. Yeah.

00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:48.059
It's, you know, very luxury brand. And he's like,

00:54:48.159 --> 00:54:50.380
oh, well, let's just get shots and shoot it.

00:54:50.579 --> 00:54:52.699
Like, you know, and I think, yeah, it's your

00:54:52.699 --> 00:54:55.199
money. I mean, and to some people, that's faux

00:54:55.199 --> 00:54:57.429
pas. you're supposed to enjoy it and everything.

00:54:57.590 --> 00:54:59.389
That's right. And then he's like, put Coke in

00:54:59.389 --> 00:55:01.570
it. Like, you know, things like that. Oh my gosh.

00:55:01.849 --> 00:55:03.550
And it's one of those things. Ramey Martin and

00:55:03.550 --> 00:55:05.889
Coke. You know, that kind of drove me crazy.

00:55:05.889 --> 00:55:08.230
I was like, why are you guys taking such a fantastic

00:55:08.230 --> 00:55:10.570
whiskey and killing it? Hey, but at the same

00:55:10.570 --> 00:55:12.550
time, it's their money. Let them do what they

00:55:12.550 --> 00:55:14.349
want to do and they're spending it. And it's

00:55:14.349 --> 00:55:15.849
their taste. And I'm telling you right now, the

00:55:15.849 --> 00:55:18.010
company does not care. They're selling it. They're

00:55:18.010 --> 00:55:20.650
selling it. But my point is, is that you guys

00:55:20.650 --> 00:55:23.110
are. open to trying it. And I've always thought

00:55:23.110 --> 00:55:25.989
that, like, I'll always remember this, you know,

00:55:26.010 --> 00:55:27.889
especially in the wine industry, there's a lot

00:55:27.889 --> 00:55:29.710
of people that know, they think they know wines.

00:55:29.750 --> 00:55:31.949
They're not sommeliers, they're not winemakers,

00:55:32.070 --> 00:55:34.949
but they're, you know, really into the wines.

00:55:35.349 --> 00:55:38.170
And the people that are the least judgmental,

00:55:38.170 --> 00:55:40.150
because I've met a lot of winemakers, they're

00:55:40.150 --> 00:55:43.050
just like, man, what do you like? Like, oh, you

00:55:43.050 --> 00:55:45.710
like that? Great. Like, they're so casual about

00:55:45.710 --> 00:55:47.369
it, but you meet somebody that's more of like

00:55:47.369 --> 00:55:50.090
the uppity up, oh, you're drinking that. Oh,

00:55:50.090 --> 00:55:52.650
my God. I'm like, man. You can't drink that chilled.

00:55:52.710 --> 00:55:55.210
My God. My God. What are you doing? Or just like

00:55:55.210 --> 00:55:59.389
the brand name or you can't. Oh, no. Yeah. We

00:55:59.389 --> 00:56:01.710
agree with that. It's, you know, to each their

00:56:01.710 --> 00:56:05.730
own. I mean, we all have developed our own thing

00:56:05.730 --> 00:56:08.389
that we like to drink most. I mean, Paul has

00:56:08.389 --> 00:56:11.230
a unique. No, no. This isn't a slam. You like

00:56:11.230 --> 00:56:14.210
a specific type of whiskey. That's kind of like.

00:56:15.719 --> 00:56:18.300
Like a life cereal kind of taste. You like that.

00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:20.960
Oh, you're talking about the heavily weeded one.

00:56:21.039 --> 00:56:22.760
Yeah, just like, I mean. It tastes like bread.

00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:25.679
Yeah. I loved it. You guys were like. That's

00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:27.880
my point is that we all kind of like, because

00:56:27.880 --> 00:56:30.519
what we're going to do is, so this is the Cooperstown

00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:32.800
Select. So I forget exactly what it is. This

00:56:32.800 --> 00:56:35.719
is a bottle and bond. It's 100 proof. It's not

00:56:35.719 --> 00:56:38.179
a bottle and bond. Well, it's 100 proof. I thought

00:56:38.179 --> 00:56:41.320
I saw a bottle and bond. I guess not. So it says

00:56:41.320 --> 00:56:45.139
here. I was going to read this. It's interesting

00:56:45.139 --> 00:56:48.199
that it has oats in it. I think this is our one

00:56:48.199 --> 00:56:50.960
and only with an oats. I'm not a huge fan of

00:56:50.960 --> 00:56:53.159
this, honestly. I'll just tell you right now.

00:56:53.440 --> 00:56:57.300
I would not replace this, depending on the price

00:56:57.300 --> 00:57:00.039
point. If it's $30, $40 maybe, but I'm not going

00:57:00.039 --> 00:57:01.699
to go out of my way. The black tea, I could definitely

00:57:01.699 --> 00:57:03.280
taste the black tea because that's what that

00:57:03.280 --> 00:57:05.079
resonates afterwards when you're done with it.

00:57:05.780 --> 00:57:08.480
Initially, you get the sweetness, the butterscotch.

00:57:09.730 --> 00:57:12.630
Then you got this little punch that just carries

00:57:12.630 --> 00:57:16.530
through like you would hope a white pepper would

00:57:16.530 --> 00:57:20.190
do, but this one is the black tea. It's a little

00:57:20.190 --> 00:57:23.610
harsh finish. I'm not a huge fan of that. My

00:57:23.610 --> 00:57:26.730
first pour on this, I tasted a lot of that yeasty

00:57:26.730 --> 00:57:31.110
cereal flavor for me. Now that it's been in my

00:57:31.110 --> 00:57:33.289
glass a while, I don't pick that up anymore,

00:57:33.409 --> 00:57:36.329
but that first pour outside, I definitely picked

00:57:36.329 --> 00:57:38.130
it up, but I didn't like it at all. So I let

00:57:38.130 --> 00:57:41.329
it sit. You saw how fast I drank it, but it got

00:57:41.329 --> 00:57:43.969
better for me. It's very easy to drink. Yes.

00:57:44.110 --> 00:57:47.210
It's very easy. I mean, I wouldn't kick it out

00:57:47.210 --> 00:57:48.949
of bed. Don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't go

00:57:48.949 --> 00:57:51.250
to the store and order it. What are your thoughts?

00:57:52.690 --> 00:57:55.989
I'm probably the wrong person. I haven't tasted.

00:57:56.559 --> 00:57:58.639
A ton of Burmese. Are you kidding me? She could

00:57:58.639 --> 00:58:00.599
be going to work for these folks. And you want

00:58:00.599 --> 00:58:03.019
her to leave her job on the line? As a matter

00:58:03.019 --> 00:58:06.519
of fact, they just sent them an email. I mean,

00:58:06.519 --> 00:58:09.019
look, you know, it's not the worst thing I've

00:58:09.019 --> 00:58:11.019
ever had in my mouth. So I'm like, it's not bad.

00:58:11.239 --> 00:58:15.010
It's really not bad. It's just. I think it's

00:58:15.010 --> 00:58:18.829
drinkable, and I can't really compare it to other

00:58:18.829 --> 00:58:21.690
stuff. You guys have drank it a lot more than

00:58:21.690 --> 00:58:24.909
I have in that category. But for me, it's not

00:58:24.909 --> 00:58:27.050
something like, oh, I don't think it's spit out

00:58:27.050 --> 00:58:29.550
of my mouth. I mean, I'm sipping it, so I think

00:58:29.550 --> 00:58:32.829
that's good. But for somebody who isn't as savvy

00:58:32.829 --> 00:58:36.489
in that category, I think it's good, and it's

00:58:36.489 --> 00:58:38.650
approachable. Well, Noe Report, what do you think

00:58:38.650 --> 00:58:41.150
about it? Yeah, I mean, I think there's that

00:58:41.150 --> 00:58:44.230
cereal taste, that note, and it doesn't bother

00:58:44.230 --> 00:58:48.449
me as much. So I personally, I don't know if

00:58:48.449 --> 00:58:50.170
this is faux pas or not, but I would put a cube

00:58:50.170 --> 00:58:52.590
and see where it took me. But outside of that,

00:58:52.650 --> 00:58:57.170
it was okay. Sean likes spit in his. So let's

00:58:57.170 --> 00:58:59.969
clarify. What? Let's clarify. That's what he

00:58:59.969 --> 00:59:03.849
said. Let's clarify. So when he's saying that,

00:59:03.949 --> 00:59:06.210
I'm not saying, like some people will take a,

00:59:06.210 --> 00:59:11.289
what is it, a pipette? They'll get some distilled

00:59:11.289 --> 00:59:13.590
water and they'll drop it in there. And me, I

00:59:13.590 --> 00:59:18.230
don't like to do that. He goes... That's not

00:59:18.230 --> 00:59:23.210
true. That's fake news. Let's never mix up glasses.

00:59:23.570 --> 00:59:26.130
What I like to do is I like to take it and I

00:59:26.130 --> 00:59:27.510
like to swish it in my mouth for an extended

00:59:27.510 --> 00:59:29.389
period and let it dilute a little bit and get

00:59:29.389 --> 00:59:31.989
into the system. And eventually it'll get to

00:59:31.989 --> 00:59:33.690
where I'd like it. And if it doesn't, then God

00:59:33.690 --> 00:59:36.429
bless it. Spit it back out. You swallow it. I

00:59:36.429 --> 00:59:38.389
do not. There's no regurgitation involved in

00:59:38.389 --> 00:59:40.809
this. He's gargled a few times. But that was

00:59:40.809 --> 00:59:42.650
by accident because it went down the wrong pipe.

00:59:42.750 --> 00:59:48.829
I was teary -eyed. You guys saw that. Very painful.

00:59:49.190 --> 00:59:51.809
But look, as far as rating this thing, I'm going

00:59:51.809 --> 00:59:57.429
to have to give this... Look, I feel bad because

00:59:57.429 --> 01:00:01.130
this is worse than Eagle Rare. And I gave Eagle

01:00:01.130 --> 01:00:06.849
Rare a poor score. Eagle Rare is way better than

01:00:06.849 --> 01:00:09.670
this. So you're like a 2 or a 3. I gave Eagle

01:00:09.670 --> 01:00:13.010
Rare, I think, a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. And

01:00:13.010 --> 01:00:16.530
look, whatever. For what it is, I just gave it.

01:00:16.570 --> 01:00:19.030
These guys disagree with me, strongly disagree

01:00:19.030 --> 01:00:21.590
with me. You gave it a 5. I upped it. Okay. So

01:00:21.590 --> 01:00:23.929
it was 3 .8, then I upped it to 5. We shamed

01:00:23.929 --> 01:00:25.769
him to the point where he gave it an even 5.

01:00:25.789 --> 01:00:30.159
No. Look, in all fairness, it... It struck me

01:00:30.159 --> 01:00:32.559
off on a bad day. I don't know. Everyone's palates

01:00:32.559 --> 01:00:34.639
change. You should put Ambarana in it. Yeah,

01:00:34.679 --> 01:00:36.199
I got to tell you. Have you guys ever experimented

01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:39.179
to put an Ambarana Staves? Ambarana Staves? No.

01:00:39.239 --> 01:00:42.099
Are you familiar with? No, not at all. So have

01:00:42.099 --> 01:00:44.519
you heard of RD1 Spirits? You've heard of Big

01:00:44.519 --> 01:00:48.619
Mike, Big Stick? Big Mike, he doesn't use Ambarana.

01:00:48.780 --> 01:00:52.519
He does not, but it's the process. It's the stave

01:00:52.519 --> 01:00:54.340
concept. It's the stave concept that goes in.

01:00:54.539 --> 01:00:56.820
Oak and Eden puts a lot of staves in their stuff,

01:00:57.000 --> 01:01:00.400
but RD1 Spirits does it in the barrel, but you

01:01:00.400 --> 01:01:05.960
can buy Ambarana. Lasso also makes one with Ambarana.

01:01:06.219 --> 01:01:09.219
in it. So you can go to order it on Amazon for

01:01:09.219 --> 01:01:10.659
those folks that are listening. You can buy a

01:01:10.659 --> 01:01:13.780
couple sticks of the Ambarana staves. It comes

01:01:13.780 --> 01:01:16.119
in two sticks. It's like $20 for two staves.

01:01:16.320 --> 01:01:18.559
Each stave does about three gallons. You just

01:01:18.559 --> 01:01:20.800
chip off a few chunks of it, drop it into a big

01:01:20.800 --> 01:01:23.539
bottle, and let it sit. We went over to... It's

01:01:23.539 --> 01:01:26.280
a surprising impact. It really is. You could

01:01:26.280 --> 01:01:28.079
take a mediocre, like you could take a Green

01:01:28.079 --> 01:01:31.480
Label Wellers or a 101 Wild Turkey. I put it

01:01:31.480 --> 01:01:34.599
in Jim Beam. Yeah. And you just add it on there,

01:01:34.679 --> 01:01:38.820
and it This thing comes from Mexico. It's a furniture

01:01:38.820 --> 01:01:41.639
wood. Who would have thought? And it's got such

01:01:41.639 --> 01:01:46.559
a cinnamon. Cinnamon. nestle toast crunch kind

01:01:46.559 --> 01:01:48.900
of it's wonderful impact on it and it's it's

01:01:48.900 --> 01:01:50.820
shocking the hell out of me and so now we're

01:01:50.820 --> 01:01:52.980
kind of experimenting we buy the big bottles

01:01:52.980 --> 01:01:55.820
the one and a halves and uh we're adding it to

01:01:55.820 --> 01:01:57.860
it just let it sit for a week or two i got the

01:01:57.860 --> 01:02:00.280
old granddad 114 out there with it sitting in

01:02:00.280 --> 01:02:02.820
there if you want to take a little sample you

01:02:02.820 --> 01:02:05.199
take a big sample we had it last week oh yeah

01:02:05.199 --> 01:02:10.670
i remember that yeah I'm going to rate this.

01:02:10.730 --> 01:02:12.610
Look, this is not going to be a high score. So

01:02:12.610 --> 01:02:14.849
I'm sorry for those folks out of Cooperstown.

01:02:15.329 --> 01:02:18.750
Select from New York to four grain. Look, I'm

01:02:18.750 --> 01:02:21.070
going to give this a four. I'm going to give

01:02:21.070 --> 01:02:24.329
it a four. A four. I'm not too... That's what

01:02:24.329 --> 01:02:26.909
I want. One of the challenges we have when we

01:02:26.909 --> 01:02:30.010
compare these... We've had so many now at so

01:02:30.010 --> 01:02:32.909
many different price points that we look at this

01:02:32.909 --> 01:02:36.010
price point, we look at that proof, and we're

01:02:36.010 --> 01:02:38.349
like, man, there's so many other ones we would

01:02:38.349 --> 01:02:41.789
do rather than this one. And then it ends up

01:02:41.789 --> 01:02:44.710
kind of pushing their score down, right? But

01:02:44.710 --> 01:02:47.210
I would probably go with the 4 .8. Yeah, I was

01:02:47.210 --> 01:02:49.050
right at 5 on this. I think I liked it a little

01:02:49.050 --> 01:02:50.489
bit better than you guys. Outside of that very

01:02:50.489 --> 01:02:53.070
first pool out there, it calmed down for me.

01:02:53.269 --> 01:02:55.949
But the finish is harsh. Yeah, it's got that

01:02:55.949 --> 01:02:58.809
lingering black tea kind of effluent. But you

01:02:58.809 --> 01:03:01.210
know what we always say? Every single time we

01:03:01.210 --> 01:03:03.090
finish with what we consider a harsh review.

01:03:03.329 --> 01:03:05.389
Can I have another one? No, well, that too. But

01:03:05.389 --> 01:03:08.610
if we were sitting around a fire and somebody,

01:03:08.750 --> 01:03:10.909
a guest or a friend, brought over this bottle,

01:03:10.989 --> 01:03:12.989
we'd be like, you know, hey, probably not the

01:03:12.989 --> 01:03:15.070
best we've had, but hey, pretty good, man. You

01:03:15.070 --> 01:03:16.630
know what I mean? We would all enjoy it. None

01:03:16.630 --> 01:03:18.150
of us would spit it out. Well, I mean, Sean would

01:03:18.150 --> 01:03:20.750
spit it out. And then he'd drink it again. It

01:03:20.750 --> 01:03:22.869
tastes very sweet. It's got a very sweet taste

01:03:22.869 --> 01:03:26.079
to it. I think the best indicator is like if

01:03:26.079 --> 01:03:27.599
nobody was around, are you going to be pulling

01:03:27.599 --> 01:03:30.539
that bottle from your shelf to have it for yourself?

01:03:30.699 --> 01:03:33.019
That is a great litmus test. What's the bottle

01:03:33.019 --> 01:03:34.820
that you're always gravitating to? Yeah, what

01:03:34.820 --> 01:03:37.619
you go to. Absolutely. That's a great point.

01:03:37.840 --> 01:03:40.639
Mine's early times bottle and bond recently.

01:03:41.300 --> 01:03:43.440
Yeah, I'm all over the place. I'm a little bit

01:03:43.440 --> 01:03:47.519
more pompous. I like Frey Ranch. I'm really,

01:03:47.619 --> 01:03:51.119
really, really gravitating towards the Frey Ranch.

01:03:51.400 --> 01:03:54.480
I wish you were a freak. God bless. Plus, that

01:03:54.480 --> 01:03:57.380
well is a green label with the Ambarana. I'm

01:03:57.380 --> 01:04:00.119
telling you, I'm tripping out on that. I'm all

01:04:00.119 --> 01:04:02.619
over the place, though. My go -to is the 1845

01:04:02.619 --> 01:04:06.380
Four Grain. I got to tell you, the Four Grain

01:04:06.380 --> 01:04:08.960
1845? Yeah. Have you guys talked to these folks

01:04:08.960 --> 01:04:11.659
out in Lowry Crossing? I sent them a couple of

01:04:11.659 --> 01:04:13.679
emails, and I actually got one of their bottles

01:04:13.679 --> 01:04:18.860
at the event. I think it is the Four Grain. It

01:04:18.860 --> 01:04:22.800
was good. So they have two tiers of their alcohol.

01:04:22.920 --> 01:04:25.139
They sell the 100 proof across the board of all

01:04:25.139 --> 01:04:27.380
their products, and then they have the barrel

01:04:27.380 --> 01:04:34.280
proof, right? The 116, 114. So we gravitate to

01:04:34.280 --> 01:04:36.500
the higher proof stuff. It's simply richer. That's

01:04:36.500 --> 01:04:38.860
what we're finding. But I understand that the

01:04:38.860 --> 01:04:43.940
typical market consumer. It overwhelms them.

01:04:43.980 --> 01:04:47.559
It overwhelms them, and that's why the 190 and

01:04:47.559 --> 01:04:48.840
80 proofs are the go -tos for people. But these

01:04:48.840 --> 01:04:51.639
guys have a fantastic product. They really do.

01:04:51.780 --> 01:04:54.840
And they're great people, and you're into great

01:04:54.840 --> 01:04:56.960
people. They're Texas, and they have a great

01:04:56.960 --> 01:04:59.380
story. I'd love to introduce you to them. I know

01:04:59.380 --> 01:05:03.119
you spent some emails out. We all know the owners,

01:05:03.360 --> 01:05:07.659
Bob and June Pettit, and their son Bob. I'm sorry.

01:05:07.940 --> 01:05:09.719
God bless him. What's his son's name? Ben. Ben.

01:05:10.300 --> 01:05:12.260
And the distiller on the right, Miguel Perez.

01:05:12.559 --> 01:05:15.800
Christian and Bill. And they also have a winery

01:05:15.800 --> 01:05:18.619
out there. They're a great crew. Yeah, they're

01:05:18.619 --> 01:05:22.579
great people. Nice. Anyway. They're great. We

01:05:22.579 --> 01:05:24.780
buy all their stuff. I have all their bottles.

01:05:24.880 --> 01:05:25.880
They're having a lot of stuff. Dario Noe, do

01:05:25.880 --> 01:05:27.739
you want to chip in with the rating or do you

01:05:27.739 --> 01:05:30.159
want to defer? Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't want to

01:05:30.159 --> 01:05:32.119
chip in with the rating, but I do have my go

01:05:32.119 --> 01:05:33.780
-to right now. Okay, yeah. What's your go -to?

01:05:33.840 --> 01:05:37.789
The Lasso. The cigarette blend. Really? Oh, yeah.

01:05:38.170 --> 01:05:40.730
No, it's cigarette. Oh, it's cigarette blend.

01:05:40.849 --> 01:05:43.230
That's a Dallas whiskey. I think you're right.

01:05:43.230 --> 01:05:45.630
It is cigarette blend. Yeah, you do. Do you mind

01:05:45.630 --> 01:05:47.610
pulling that up for us? Every time I'm making

01:05:47.610 --> 01:05:49.929
a drink or I'm just having a neat, I'm just like,

01:05:49.989 --> 01:05:52.170
holy fuck, I love this. I've seen it at Total

01:05:52.170 --> 01:05:54.769
Wine. I'm not sure I'm familiar with it. Pull

01:05:54.769 --> 01:05:55.869
that up real quick. All right, so let's take

01:05:55.869 --> 01:05:58.329
a look. Lasso, they're kind of the square bottles.

01:05:58.510 --> 01:06:00.849
Yeah. It darts cigarette blend. There you go.

01:06:00.949 --> 01:06:03.840
Oh, yeah. That's it. That's the exact. Bottle

01:06:03.840 --> 01:06:07.260
you're talking about? Yeah. They have an older

01:06:07.260 --> 01:06:09.099
bottle out there that's a little higher proof.

01:06:09.260 --> 01:06:11.579
I think I sent you guys that picture of me drinking

01:06:11.579 --> 01:06:13.639
at some dude's house that I had no idea who he

01:06:13.639 --> 01:06:15.980
was, and all of a sudden I ended up, I just manifested

01:06:15.980 --> 01:06:17.300
there. I don't even know how I got there. I was

01:06:17.300 --> 01:06:19.840
just like, poof, I'm here. And then he starts

01:06:19.840 --> 01:06:21.440
passing all these drinks. I wish I could go through

01:06:21.440 --> 01:06:23.199
the phone and look, but I'm not. But he had like

01:06:23.199 --> 01:06:27.280
an 18 -year lasso. Whoa. It was off the freaking

01:06:27.280 --> 01:06:29.860
hook. Well, I know that, and I'll bring up Liquor

01:06:29.860 --> 01:06:33.440
Library, but he turned us on to it. We had a

01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:36.719
sample, and I was like, whoa. And I rarely will

01:06:36.719 --> 01:06:40.320
buy bottles that are not our products. Right.

01:06:40.420 --> 01:06:42.940
And I was like, I'm taking this. Nice. Yeah.

01:06:43.039 --> 01:06:46.099
So what are the specs of the lasso bottle? What's

01:06:46.099 --> 01:06:47.440
the proof? Yeah, they have several expressions.

01:06:48.659 --> 01:06:52.460
Yeah, the yellow label, I think, is the Ambarano.

01:06:53.639 --> 01:06:54.940
All right, so what's this one, though? What's

01:06:54.940 --> 01:06:57.400
the proof on it? Oh, it's 100 proof. Food pairings,

01:06:57.420 --> 01:07:00.269
beef and salty snacks. Well, there you go. You

01:07:00.269 --> 01:07:04.469
had me at beef and salty snacks. They use three

01:07:04.469 --> 01:07:10.909
different barrel finishes. Nice. Yeah, Lasso

01:07:10.909 --> 01:07:13.170
puts out some... Are they MGP or do they distill

01:07:13.170 --> 01:07:15.750
their own? I believe they're still MGP. Yeah,

01:07:15.809 --> 01:07:17.730
they do it all down at some hotel in Dallas,

01:07:17.869 --> 01:07:20.090
don't they? Yeah, it's something like that. Some

01:07:20.090 --> 01:07:22.610
old hotel. Good little following. It's the name.

01:07:22.809 --> 01:07:25.269
They got the... Right there, Lasso, the Ambarana

01:07:25.269 --> 01:07:28.739
cast finish motel. No tell, no tell. How much

01:07:28.739 --> 01:07:30.019
time do we have left? I want to ask one more

01:07:30.019 --> 01:07:31.639
question if I've got time. Yeah, let's roll it.

01:07:31.760 --> 01:07:34.480
All right. Let's see. So you've been, you're

01:07:34.480 --> 01:07:38.460
not new to the business, but two years in, so

01:07:38.460 --> 01:07:41.219
far, what is the absolute coolest thing that

01:07:41.219 --> 01:07:45.760
you have been a part of yet in terms of meeting

01:07:45.760 --> 01:07:48.400
people that you got excited about meeting or

01:07:48.400 --> 01:07:51.900
some event that you were like, damn, this is

01:07:51.900 --> 01:07:54.599
amazing? I'm never putting my keys in that basket

01:07:54.599 --> 01:07:58.039
again. Right, that kind of party. Like, what's

01:07:58.039 --> 01:08:00.300
the coolest thing you've seen so far? I think

01:08:00.300 --> 01:08:02.539
there's a couple. You know, we have one brand,

01:08:02.820 --> 01:08:05.960
Live Oak Vodka, that, you know, as long as we've

01:08:05.960 --> 01:08:08.460
been in the industry, I've come into this industry

01:08:08.460 --> 01:08:11.260
where the brands are already made, right? They're

01:08:11.260 --> 01:08:13.400
already developed and we're representing them

01:08:13.400 --> 01:08:17.880
and, you know, but this one, we are really, all

01:08:17.880 --> 01:08:19.680
of our brands, well, especially this one, we're

01:08:19.680 --> 01:08:21.520
building it from the ground up. Yeah. And just

01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:24.649
seeing... it grow and to being part of it when

01:08:24.649 --> 01:08:27.710
it first, almost when it first started and seeing

01:08:27.710 --> 01:08:31.449
the evolution of it has been amazing. It's like

01:08:31.449 --> 01:08:33.869
family. It's just non, it's just, it's going

01:08:33.869 --> 01:08:36.909
to be a nonstop train. Um, and then the other

01:08:36.909 --> 01:08:39.130
one is kind of funny. It's not really funny,

01:08:39.210 --> 01:08:42.510
but there is a event called sand fest and Port

01:08:42.510 --> 01:08:44.350
Aransas, Texas. Have you guys ever been there

01:08:44.350 --> 01:08:47.140
in the beach town? I've been there, but I haven't

01:08:47.140 --> 01:08:50.859
been to... What is it? Sandfest. Sandfest? Sandfest.

01:08:50.920 --> 01:08:54.800
Yeah. If you go on our page on our NVU brands,

01:08:55.079 --> 01:08:57.619
there's a little video of us doing a recap on

01:08:57.619 --> 01:09:00.239
it. But Noe and I were involved with that for

01:09:00.239 --> 01:09:03.520
10 years. And we had all of our... Whatever brand

01:09:03.520 --> 01:09:05.859
we worked for at the time, we would be featured

01:09:05.859 --> 01:09:08.270
in the VIP tent. And then one of the biggest

01:09:08.270 --> 01:09:10.210
things that they take these big, you know, all

01:09:10.210 --> 01:09:12.369
these artists come in and they're building these

01:09:12.369 --> 01:09:16.789
big sand sculptures. And in one of the entrances,

01:09:16.789 --> 01:09:19.930
they have all the brand sponsor names. And so

01:09:19.930 --> 01:09:22.149
normally it would always be the brand that we

01:09:22.149 --> 01:09:24.010
were representing, whatever it was, like Live

01:09:24.010 --> 01:09:26.649
Oak Vodka or just, you know, when Noe was at

01:09:26.649 --> 01:09:30.250
Absolute, that was on there. This past year,

01:09:30.350 --> 01:09:33.470
NVU Brands was on there, and it was so cool.

01:09:33.470 --> 01:09:38.149
Very cool. I thought that was so cool. But there's

01:09:38.149 --> 01:09:40.729
so many different things. I think it's just seeing

01:09:40.729 --> 01:09:44.869
something grow that just is like, I don't know

01:09:44.869 --> 01:09:47.529
if it's ever going to happen. And then seeing

01:09:47.529 --> 01:09:50.729
it finally getting some steam and rolling, and

01:09:50.729 --> 01:09:52.770
we want to see that with all of our brands. But

01:09:52.770 --> 01:09:57.569
when's the next event? Well, Sandfest is next

01:09:57.569 --> 01:10:00.050
year around, I think when I said April. Yeah,

01:10:00.109 --> 01:10:03.949
the end of March, April. But one of our brands,

01:10:04.130 --> 01:10:09.350
we grew up almost in Port A, very close in Corpus

01:10:09.350 --> 01:10:13.890
Christi. But again, when you finally see a brand

01:10:13.890 --> 01:10:17.550
just take that turn, it's like, okay. And the

01:10:17.550 --> 01:10:19.590
feeling you have. The feeling that we were a

01:10:19.590 --> 01:10:22.130
part of that. You had a hand in making it happen.

01:10:22.250 --> 01:10:24.170
Absolutely. So I think that's one of the coolest

01:10:24.170 --> 01:10:27.390
things. And then seeing our logo, even though

01:10:27.390 --> 01:10:29.890
he's wearing an NVU hat right now, just like

01:10:29.890 --> 01:10:32.829
the brands there, we're representing and we're

01:10:32.829 --> 01:10:34.310
doing some really big things. So that's always

01:10:34.310 --> 01:10:36.250
exciting. And it makes it real. It makes it real.

01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:38.539
Well, we're so excited that you guys joined us

01:10:38.539 --> 01:10:39.920
tonight. I hope you're going to stay around for

01:10:39.920 --> 01:10:41.439
the second half. I don't know if you've got somewhere

01:10:41.439 --> 01:10:43.399
to be or you have an early morning tomorrow morning.

01:10:43.579 --> 01:10:48.560
Up to you guys. Well, NVU Brands, check them

01:10:48.560 --> 01:10:51.520
out on Instagram, Facebook, nvubrands .com. Is

01:10:51.520 --> 01:10:55.319
that right? That's correct. It's been a great

01:10:55.319 --> 01:10:58.640
first half. I want you guys to stick around.

01:10:59.070 --> 01:11:00.649
Hopefully you will. Give me some more whiskey.

01:11:01.550 --> 01:11:04.270
We've got some samples. We have a couple hundred

01:11:04.270 --> 01:11:06.470
out there. We have a ton of topics on the board,

01:11:06.550 --> 01:11:09.000
and we can just talk. You can shoot shit about

01:11:09.000 --> 01:11:10.659
what's going on in the world. Second half will

01:11:10.659 --> 01:11:12.939
be a little bit different. We're going to pull

01:11:12.939 --> 01:11:15.520
some different strings. Uh -oh. We'll just go

01:11:15.520 --> 01:11:17.420
with the flow like we normally do. Let's do it.

01:11:17.640 --> 01:11:19.520
All right. Well, that's the first half of the

01:11:19.520 --> 01:11:22.140
Dudes Like Us podcast. It's November 4th. Chuck,

01:11:22.220 --> 01:11:24.260
thank you for staying on top of shit. MVU Brands,

01:11:24.260 --> 01:11:26.159
God bless it. Dudes Like Us. I'm Sean. I'm Paul.

01:11:26.220 --> 01:11:28.180
I'm Jeff. Victoria. Noe.