All right. Stretching it out. Here we are. Shoot,
there's so much going on. It's the first podcast
of November. God bless. I got to tell you. Believe
that or not. I was watching football this weekend,
and they actually had some Christmas music playing
in some of the commercials. And I got to tell
you. That's too early. I think it's perfect.
I got an emotional Woody. I was excited. I love
this time of year, and I say it every single
year. And then you cuss it off. That was a little
different. I was disgruntled because my kids
weren't doing something I wanted them to do.
Maybe this year will be different. Well, I'm
excited about tonight because we have two very
special guests. We do. It's November 4th, 2025.
It's a Dudes Like Us podcast. Mr. Producer Chuck
behind the realm there. Dudes Like Us, I am Sean.
I'm Paul. I am Jeff. I'm Victoria. I'm Noe. And
we're here to pomp you up. Well, we're excited.
We've got lots of stuff going on. So I'd like
to, why don't you guys just kind of introduce
yourselves and why are you here? What obnoxious
person contacted you? We just showed up at your
door and you said you had bourbon. There you
go. And here you go. Here's some two extra waters
in case you guys need them. No, my name is Victoria
Urea. I have my husband here with me, Noe Urea.
And we have a business called NVU Brands. And
what we do is we help new and up and coming emerging
brands with sales in Texas, brand management,
distributing management. So we help them get
to that next level. um when it comes to brand
building strictly in the spirit industry yes
anything alcohol related probably okay yeah no
horse saddles or stirrups or cowboy hats oh look
at that look at us right so yeah how many brands
do you represent guys are so charismatic at the
time we have uh three brands and then within
them they have different types of so coastal
bend distillery they have live oak vodka Lucky
Star Gin, and those are the two main focuses.
And then we also have Horse Neck Bourbon. They
have the two bourbons plus their new nine -year
founders and their RTDs. And then our last newest
partner is Swift Single Malt out of the Hill
Country. Very nice. So Horse Neck, we've had
the Horse Neck. crew on, actually two of them.
Had a blast with them. Very familiar with those
guys, yeah. That's how we initially met you guys.
Actually, we didn't even know who we were talking
to. We saw the aftermath of some of the buzz
in the social media, and I was like, God bless
it. They were right there. And I heard Victoria's
voice. I was like, who the hell is this chick?
Her voice is fantastic. She sounds like you should
be doing radio shows. Well, that's why we're
here. Well, I don't know if you guys noticed,
but I wore red today because I did hear the podcast
with the lady in red. And I didn't know if that
was me or not. No, he goes, listen to this. I
go, it could have been anybody. And then it got
a little bit more heated. Yeah, but thank you
for the compliments. She's calling us out. Thank
you. That was good. If I remember correctly,
that's when we were doing that bourbon exchange.
Yes. Right? Everybody's going back and forth,
picking up the gifts and stealing from each other
and Yes, I remember. And you were standing next
to me. I was. I was standing right next to you
guys. And I think you're the one that stole.
Yeah, he said he walked over and he said, Sean,
I'm so gassy. I need to stand up and walk away.
And he was like, I'm going to go stand over that
guy. I was wondering what that was all about.
The truth comes out. Yeah. But it was a fun event.
We enjoyed it. It was. It was great to kind of
meet everybody. And regarding Horse Neck, I mean,
those ready -to -drink, crushable bourbon whiskey
drinks. Those are incredible drinks. They brought
them on the podcast. We had them. They tasted
great. Natural fruits. And we got schnookered.
Oh, yeah. I mean, we really did because we did
four of them and we're passing them around, pouring
in our glass. And then after we went through
four of them. And then two bourbons. Yeah, then
we had two bourbons on top of that. Yeah. They
got to sample the infinity. Yeah. Pardon? No,
I said all in one sitting. Y 'all did all this.
Well, they did a full podcast the first half.
The second half, of course, is a little bit different.
We're a little. less inhibited, you know, it's
called seasoned. Is that what it is? Yeah. Did
you say horse deck has a new one out a nine year?
Yeah. It's right around the corner. They have
690 bottles of the nine year founders reserve.
Nice. So talking about the portfolio of services
that you offer to the people you partner with,
is that like a life cycle thing where you kind
of start with them and then you take them all
the way through? Would you guys kind of, they
can kind of cherry pick what services you guys
kind of help them with or how's that work? Yeah,
it kind of varies per brand. When we started
this, because our experience comes from being
behind the bar to working for distributors, working
for national brands, global brands. And so what
we did a couple of years ago is turn it into
a business. And so having that kind of experience,
you can cater white glove service to the particular
brand. I apologize. Let's back up just a little
bit more. Sure. Because you were in the business.
So like when you were what? 18, 19, 20 -ish?
Right. 18. Oh, no. Wait a minute. 17. You were
17? Yeah, I was 17 when I jumped in. So you started
really early, started bartending, and how did
you guys meet in that business? I'll let you
tell the story. Oh, boy. Because I always tell
it. She was a lady in red, wasn't she? It was
a black dress. Well, I met him when I was 18
years old, I believe. I was a... senior in high
school. And at the time, I worked at Happy Hooters.
I worked at Hooters. Oh, wow. Yeah, probably
before I had my Hooters. So you were in orange,
not black. Well, no, that's not the first time
you saw me. So I had a boyfriend and Noe had
a girlfriend at the time. And just like with
my charming self and all my friends, we always
got into bars as 21, even though we weren't.
I don't know what it was, but we just did. And
we went to the bar that Noe happens to be bartending
at. And he had instructed the door guy to always
give all the pretty girls a 21 and up band. So
right away, we already got the hookup. Smart.
Yeah. Well, I was the bartender slash manager
slash approval. I don't think you get in trouble
for that now. I think they're not going to fire
you. No, no. It's definitely good for business,
for sure. Just watching all my words right now.
So I happened to go in with my boyfriend and
his friends and everything. And I got my 21 band
and I thought it was really cool. So I went down
to get a drink. And who was my bartender? But
Noe. And he said, well, you're very beautiful.
The drinks are on the house. And I was so excited.
And I went up and I'm like, I got free drinks.
Of course, I had a jealous boyfriend at the time.
So he goes down, he goes, who brought my girlfriend
drinks? And he's like, well, you shouldn't let
a pretty girl go down and get her. drinks um
and they had to exchange words and i was so embarrassed
and then we just left right well the next day
on my shift guess who happens to be walking into
hooters that day um and so i by chance had no
idea we didn't we didn't we didn't know each
other no idea it was just i guess fate and i
was him and his friend so they walk in i go I
don't know if you remember me from last night,
but I apologize for the way that behavior. Come
sit. I'll buy you guys some pitchers of beer.
Like, well, like just come sit in my section.
And actually during that whole exchange, his
friend is the one that asked me for my number
and I gave his friend my number. And I was shy.
Yes, you were shy. And but then what did I tell
my girlfriends? We have a hookup at this bar.
Like, so we would go and I would take all my
friends all the time to go see him at the bar.
And then it just kind of led in. to things where
we started talking, we actually became best friends
before actually getting together. For over a
year? Yeah, for over a year. Is that while you
had your significant others? Yes. There was a
little transition? Yeah, and I know that sounds
really terrible. I don't think so. My ex and
then his, we were not compatible. I mean, we're
all young, right? I always say you gotta kiss
a lot of... When you're young, you gotta figure
it out. Yeah, you do. And I always say you got
to kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince.
So it kind of worked out that way and we became
friends. And then one day I happened to sleep
over, just to sleep over, I swear. And he, I'm
pretty sure there was some sleep during that
time. But, and then before he left, he put the
key on my key ring and said, you know, here's
a spare key. And I never left after that. Well,
I was trying to be cool about it, so when she
was upstairs and she immediately saw it, she's
like, what is this? And I was like, well, you're
going to need it. Very nice. It's confidence.
All right, so let me recap. So you used him for
free alcohol for a year. Yep. Absolutely. And
then she needed a place to stay, and you said,
all right, stay here forever. Yes, ma 'am. Okay.
And here we are. Did I get that right? 24 years
later. That's awesome. That's a great story.
Thank you. Very cool. Yeah. So you guys are,
uh, ultimately did you guys end up working at
the same place? No, no, we didn't. I mean, we've
always been the alcohol industry and in the alcohol
industry, it's really faux pas. You're not supposed
to work with a significant other or your spouse,
right? Well, one. You're in the alcohol industry
and others, you know, there could be a lot of
jealousy and all of that. But when I was bartending,
I mean, Noe would come and hang out with my bar
and he would, it was so funny because, you know,
you have guys and they come and they flirt and
they say stuff. And then, of course, Noe's like,
yeah, I bet I can take her home. And they're
like, no, you can't, whatever, we've been trying.
And they're like, no, watch. And then he would
do it and then he'd like, I'd be like, yeah,
here's my number. Like, let's like meet up later.
So we played like a little joke with it. Dude,
you could have made some money. I bet you a hundred
dollars I'd get her phone number. Totally. leg
broken but whatever but we we you know we know
we and i grew up in the industry so we don't
really have that jealous bone when it comes to
it i mean we both know that we're working we're
both professional in it so it's like we it's
a thing i mean if we have to go to different
events we're we're totally fine with it and you
know we trust each other yeah so what was what
was the the catalyst what what what was the spark
you know you guys are both in the industry and
then all of a sudden you're like you see these
uh these vendors that are coming in and they're
dropping off millilite products along with all
these schwag and and you're kind of like man
i could i could do that is that kind of the spirit
of what what happened you know it's funny when
i was a waiter i would i remember seeing our
liquor guy come in and he would come in and he
was doing that he was giving away shirts or he
was talking to other people and i told my buddy
dude i could totally do that i want to do that
And like two years later, I was doing that. So
it was just, I didn't realize that was actually
a job. And that was, you got paid to go out and
talk about liquor. And then it kind of just evolved
and grew into something great. And then gained
some credibility and some reputation for knowing
the industry. And then suddenly people are reaching
out to you or did you kind of hit up some distillery
saying, I can help you? So when my career started,
I started in the warehouse. I actually didn't
start in sales. I started merchandising. So I
was in the warehouse stocking trucks, stocking
shelves, doing all that. And then I got a promotion.
And then I worked in the sales on the wine and
the liquor side for two or three years. So I
worked for RNDC, the distributor, for 12 years.
Nice. And in those 12 years, I did six promotions.
So doing several jobs along the way got me a
great experience. Yeah, for sure. End to end.
Yeah. But then from there, I moved to San Antonio.
We lived apart for a year. And I worked for RNDC
up there, but I worked for Pano Ricard, Absolute,
Malibu, Jamison, Chivas, and got to get that
great experience. And then after 12 years, they
called me into the room and said, thank you for
your 12 years of service. We're eliminating your
job. You have 60 days to find a new opportunity.
I've been there. Good Lord. So by the time I
left the parking lot that day, I had three interviews.
Long story short. And then two days later, I'm
on a flight to Houston for an interview. And
I'm working for Stoli Vodka running Houston.
I had to convince her we're moving to Houston.
That wasn't easy. And then from there it grew.
But from Houston, four and a half years of working
for that company to running that and then the
state. So it was kind of an evolution. Yeah.
Anything else? That job was huge. Yeah. And it
was. I probably would have stayed with that company.
Exactly. That's what happens. You get stuck in
the rat race, and you're thinking there's that
carrot at the end of the tunnel while they dangle
the carrot of success in front of you. It was
my first time experiencing I'm a number. I'm
actually just part of this. Correct. For sure.
I was in. I was a guy who was, I'm a company
guy. I'm a corporate guy. I'm a structured guy.
That is me. Then you realize, next, and then
you kind of have to read. re -imagine, rethink
differently. Yeah. That's why I didn't get back
into the rat race. I was done with it last, what
was it, last March I got laid off. So I know
how that feels and I haven't gone back to the
corporate world. So I'm done with the rat race.
Yeah. You know. And I've been laid off five times
and I'm still in the rat race. Hmm. That's exciting.
I should have been laid off hundreds of times.
But for some reason, they keep me around. He
still survives. They keep me. We got to have
one freaking retarded loser. So we're going to
make the DEI quota. There you go. That's why
you survived this one. That's why they keep you
around. Sean checks all these boxes. He's covered.
Let's just keep him here. Wow. Isn't he gay?
I am happy. I am. Yeah, you can be anything they
want you to be. So you're at that job, and you
guys are still together. And what were you doing
on that job? Yeah, so I wanted to be a vet. I'm
supposed to be helping animals right now. I still
love animals, but the reason why we were apart
is because I was finishing my bachelor's degree
in biomedical science, so all my prerequisites
to go to veterinary school. Where was this at?
Corpus Christi. A &M Corpus Christi. Nice. So
then... it came time okay let's start applying
and doing all this other stuff but because I
was trying to finish so fast I was doing like
18 20 hours per semester so it was really hard
and I don't know if you ever done biomedical
science but the labs and the just all that kind
of stuff was tiring so then I said I'm going
to take a little break and then somebody found
out that I took a little break and a winery in
texas uh picked me up and asked me hey do you
buy while you're in your transition phase do
you want to come and sell some wine i was like
okay yeah and you know let's do that and then
i started that and i never left the alcohol industry
i left it for a little while i left it for three
years um i still have the business that i started
at when i left but i came back into the industry
so then i did the wine um and then we know he's
like we're moving to houston and i'm like However,
I didn't know Houston then. I love Houston now.
It's a lot of variety and it's kind of pulling
me away. This place a little bit is kind of pulling
me away that I might come and check it out over
here. Houston's kind of a butthole. Wow. I mean,
it's the armpit of Texas. Certain areas. I was
going to say, there's good and bad areas of every
city. I didn't mean to slam that. It's the truth.
And you know, I get a little frustrated because
there are a lot of places where it should not
be as trashy as it should be. And they should
clean it up. And it really is sad because it's
a beautiful city. And there's a lot of great
business people there. It's a very large city.
It's significantly larger than Dallas -Fort Worth.
They have a lot of specs, because I think I visited
all of them looking for that double. Well, it's
the headquarters over there. Yeah. Well, they
had the double -barrel Spanish hook I was looking
for. I went to like every single one of them.
I did enjoy going down to Houston, though. Yeah.
So it's not horrible, horrible. You know, and
we'll go back to that, but let me finish this
really quick. So then I went to work for Republic.
So I was working for there in Houston. And then
I don't think I've ever been a corporate person.
I've tried very hard. And I'm one of those people
that will climb up the ladder just naturally
of like, just, you know. You're driven, ambition,
you know, you work good with people. Very much
so. That happens naturally. Very much so. But
I just didn't feel it. I was always, and then
I was always saying, there's something more,
something more. And I would get great offers.
And I left. to go i got taken away with um dulce
vida tequila you were poached i was poached and
i said yeah let's do that let's get that experience
and then i was like it's just i don't understand
i would get and i'm not trying to brag about
myself but they would give me multiple raises
within that same year i mean you know and i'm
still really great friends with the owners and
everything like that but i was like what is it
what is it why am i not satisfied um and i do
a lot of self -development and again i like to
I study entrepreneurs and business and I'm like,
I think that's where I want to go. I don't, I
just, I'm not fitting in. I don't feel right
here. All the great opportunities, I learned
a lot of skill there, but I was like, it's just,
I don't feel right. So then I went to one women
in business conference in Missouri. After that,
I was like, I'm done. I found another opportunity
in the finance world and insurance world. I said,
I'm leaving once I get my license. Started that,
started a team. I still have that going. And
then, you know, that taught me so many skills
beyond belief on just looking at things not as
a W -2 or employee. Looking things in more on
the entrepreneurial side. The driven, the everything.
So then when the opportunity or situation arose
where Noe's like, what do you think we should
do? I was like, you're not going to go work for
anybody else. Let's fucking do this. Let's start
NVU Brands. We can do it. So that's what we've
been doing and we're going on over two years
now with it. And I love it. I mean, I love doing
that. You either know that you are or you don't
know or you're in that transition of trying to
figure it out. I always tell people, if you're
in that transition of, I don't know whether I
stay in the W -2 world and the employee world
or do you go in the entrepreneurship, you got
to look at it in this two ways. There's two Victorias,
right? One of it, if I go in the W -2 employee
world, I probably could move up the ladder. I
have a... consistent salary. I get holidays off.
I get weekends off. Benefits. Benefits. There's
security. I mean, there's a lot of things to
it. Now, of course, you have like, oh, I have
to go to work on Monday or whatever. And then
you have the entrepreneur world where it's like
anxiety all the time. Everything rises and falls
with you. You have to figure out where cash flow
is going to come from. You're always having to
pivot. You're always, I mean, there's a lot of
stress in that. Everybody thinks it's glamorous.
And you work twice as much. You work twice as
much. This whole be your own boss and make your
own hours is completely bullshit because now
you have no hours. It's like 24 -7 all the day.
But if you keep, and I kept saying, okay, which
one should I do? And if I kept leaning towards
the entrepreneurship, like, man, I love it. I
can't go back. That's when you know, boom, that's
the road you're meant to be. When I started to
figure that out, I was like, I can't ever go
back to it. I mean, there's some times where
I'm like, man, should we just go back and just
get a good, you know, but it's hard for me to
ever go back once you start it. So you're loving
it. Sounds like you're loving it. Are you both
like 100 % in all the time? 1 ,000%. This is
it. This is going to happen. Excellent. Yeah.
For two years. We're coming up on two years.
So before we started this company, I was with
another broker. And I ran three states for him,
Texas, Florida, and California. That's where
I learned this side of the business, the broker
work, having multiple brands and being a part
of multiple brands. And I liked it. And I thought
that there was a certain way to do about it,
but there was something that was missing from
it. And so when I left there, that's where we
made the decision to actually start NVU Brands.
And so the first thing we did was we did it the
way we did it before, have a lot of brands. We
went up to nine, almost 10. I think we had 10
brands at one point. Hated it because your revenue
is great, but you're not doing an actually good
job for these brands. You're spread too thin.
You are. And then it was just us. There's no
other employees. There's zero in the state of
Texas. So what do you guys, what do you, let's
narrow this down for the ignorant folks like
me. What are you doing for like Horse Neck? Like
you met the owners, you meet them and you're
like, hey, this is what I can offer. What are
you doing? I mean, are you doing all the social
media? I mean, are you setting up opportunities
for podcasts, all of the above? Yeah, let me
take a step back. And it's not just for Horse
Neck. So when you, there's, know how many brands
are starting every year? 317 new brands come
into Texas. And a lot of those new brands have
never been in the industry. Right. So what happens
is and it's a great idea. And again, I'm a huge
advocate for entrepreneurs. If you have a dream,
if you have something and you you want to start
it, go for it. I'm going to be your number one.
You know, I'm going to applaud you for that.
But what happens is they're like, oh, shit, this
is not as easy as just making a brand or creating
a product. So in Texas, we have the four tier
system and there's a lot of steps. to get your
product from here to the retail store, to the
bar, to the restaurants. And a lot of the new
brands that come out, they don't know that process.
We have to work with a distributor. Then you
have to work, if you're trying to get into bars
and restaurants, a Class B, like a Specs, a Twins,
a Goody, whatever Class Bs there are here. And
so there's a lot of navigating. There's also
a lot, because we worked with distributors, we
can speak that lingo. um, and that lingo to where
we know what to ask the right questions. We also
know, Hey, the pricing, um, because knowing I
are out so much and we, we see a lot of people
all across Texas, all different buyers. We know
what they're looking for. And what sometimes
what happens is because again, if somebody is
very new to the industry, they don't have the
pulse of the market. They don't know they're
not out there as much as why they hire us. So
we can get. not only the feedback, see what people
are wanting, come back, let's pivot, let's do
this, but also manage the brand and guide them
into being like, okay. well, here's a good plan
for how we should approach the market, what we
should do. It's a little bit of marketing, but
a lot of sales. And of course, once we have that
foundation in place, then it's easier for us
to go and be like, okay, here's what we have
for the retailer. The problem with the industry
right now is there's a lot of brands, and you
guys see this in the liquor stores. It's getting
saturated. There is saturation right now. It's
very saturated. x y and z brand they go in they
place it it sits there it collects dust it's
retail for the retailer and it's like this is
i'm losing money that it's not What's the pull
through? And a lot of brands don't have that
strategy. So when Noe and I, we were starting
this company at first, we're like, okay, we're
going to do what we do. But with emerging brands,
it's different. With all these brands that have
names, they just pull. That's easy, right? If
we represented a brand that just had the name,
our job is a little bit easier. But we're starting
from scratch, building it from ground up, which
takes a lot of grit, a lot of fortitude, a lot
of patience. And I tell all these brands, we
are the punching bag because there's stuff that
buyers will tell us that... they probably won't
tell you. So we have to navigate through that
and kind of put in a better game plan. That way
it's a pull through for these buyers. The point
of a company is to solve problems. You have to
have solutions. And if I bring a bottle to that
retailer, it's a problem. Nobody knows the name.
It has no presence. So we have to figure out
- Yeah, what sets it apart. What sets it apart.
So we have to make sure our pricing's right and
a strategy of like, okay, here, I'm placing this,
but I'm also going to do a tasting. We have an
NVU ambassador coming in. I got to get the liquid
to lips. There's a lot of things that we do.
And it's crazy because when Noe and I, the other
day, we're like, oh man, we just do a lot. But
it might seem smooth for our brands because they
don't see a lot of the backend stuff like that.
Do you guys ever do like - So yeah, we just started
an NVU ambassador program where we are hand -trained.
We're not a demo or promo company, but we are
hand -training certain leaders in each market
to learn how to sell each brand, how to captivate
somebody when they're coming in for a retail
tasting, those types of things. So we do offer
that. I mean, we go in, Noe and I will sell the
cases in. And then be like, OK, well, let's schedule
a tasting so we can start getting this out there.
We've also started doing like social media to
where on some of our top accounts, we're like,
OK, we're going to bring our media guy and we're
going to start shooting and doing ads and things
like that. So we're thinking beyond it. And if
you look at right now, there's not a lot of brokers
that think like that, which is good and not good.
I think eventually they will. But we have to
figure out how to. With these new brands, how
do we pull it through and how do we start building
up some momentum so people are buying it and
pulling it off the shelf? Right. Yeah, and we
don't take pivots lightly. We take it very seriously.
So when a brand has a marketing plan, a sales
strategy, and the guys at Horse Neck, when they
came out, the RTDs were the first lead. You guys
met that and the bourbons came later. Well, the
feedback we got from the market was challenging.
It was a very challenging market. COVID was over.
Sales were hot. And Brown Spirit, RTDs, or in
that section, if Jack and Jim and Jameson were
struggling to get pool, and they're a certain
price point a year, a couple bucks higher, regardless
of how great it is, which we think it's a great
product, it doesn't matter. This market is going
to say what they're saying. So that's where we
came back and did a pivot. And after six months,
collecting all the data, and then the same thing
kind of happened with the bourbons. It's very
good juice. The pricing, we had to kind of work
on that. And so now we've restructured both of
their pricings. And in just the 30 days of really
bringing it to market, you can see an instant
difference. So we take our time in getting the
pivot, but that's what we do. As far as sales
strategy, we don't really take control of their
marketing strategy. That's their team. But we
do that as just being a part of our company.
So is it generally, like you said, it's so saturated,
it's so competitive. If you know they've got
juice, that will compete, right? If they don't
have a juice that won't compete, it doesn't matter
what the price point is, right? We all know that.
Have you had to break some bad news to the folks
before that says what's inside the bottle is
not resonating with people? Meaning the price
point's not going to help. Well, yeah. It's not
good stuff. And part of this process was learning,
learning that you have to communicate that. And
this is, we do business the right way. We have
a very strict core value, core ethics. So now
we taste the juice, look at the pricing, look
at the strategy and then come determine how we're
going to approach it. But we've had to part ways
with the brands because it just wasn't either
going to work or other reasons. But yes, we've
had to have, and they're not. They're not comfortable.
Everyone's, what is it? Everyone thinks their
baby's the prettiest. Right. Oh, yeah. Yes. So
it's a tough conversation. It is. It is. But
you're about being real. I mean, you're not going
to sell them something that is not going to succeed.
We could easily take their money for six months,
a year. And we're trying. We're getting this.
We're getting that. It's ethics. Personal ethics
in business. I like that. Well, yeah. I mean,
it's our ethical responsibility to put. prerequisites
on brand so we get we get emails from brands
all the time of like oh i got your number can
you and so we have a questionnaire and let's
talk about it we always give everybody one zoom
call and we look at like what they have and we
ask them a couple questions and if there's some
that they're just like they're not ready they're
not ready for us yet But we do give them a little
bit of constructive, it's not even criticism,
but just steps of like, hey, you might want to
start here or look at doing this or look at doing
that. Because again, like what Noe said, we could
easily, okay, here's the fee, here's everything
that you do. And then like, we're really not
going to be successful out there. But we're taking,
we just don't do that. We're not built like that.
Integrity is a huge thing for our company. But
it is that ethical responsibility for any company
to put prerequisites on people before they say
yes to something. Is it just the two of you?
That's it. For right now. I mean, we do have
a CFO and she helps us with all our financing,
but we're starting to build up this NVU ambassador
team. That's a 1099 position for right now. We,
you know, we look on business wise. We're very.
when it comes to our money now. Before year one,
it was wild, wild west. We were doing whatever
versus like, you know, learning it. But again,
we want to make sure that we're financially stable
and everything for people to start hiring right
now. Plus, once we hire, we also have to raise
up everything for all of our brands. So we want
to make sure that we're getting enough volume
for our brands first before we can go like, hey,
I got to hire somebody in Dallas. I got to hire
somebody in San Antonio. I got to hire. So we're
looking all that. And of course, we want to scale
this. This thing is going to be, We're going
to be NVU Group pretty soon, and it's just going
to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And because
we're out in the market, you see it's not the
right time to add employees. Right. We have to
be very aware. And you're just kind of looking
at everything that's going on, rate of sale,
rate of turn, just kind of the whole thing. And
we tried. We had an employee for a few months,
and we parted ways. But that's when it gave us
a true reality of what the cost, the taxes, and
everything that went involved with that. There's
a lot to it. What kind of got into, I mean, you've
touched on it a couple times, is the state of
the business right now. Because I've read some
stuff, the guys have read some stuff just in
general across the nation that the whole whiskey
bourbon industry is really softening at the moment.
What are you seeing out there? You're probably
much more involved. And we've seen the glut of
brands up there. Every time you go into Total
Wine or Specs, you see something new. I understand
that it takes time to make this stuff. Four years
ago, bourbon was at the top of the world. Now
that they're releasing it, it's not exactly the
top of the world. It's starting to come back
down. Are you seeing a lot of the brands starting
to disappear, really reducing pricing? What are
you getting from others in the industry as far
as how it's going? When I see display stacks
of Buffalo Trace and Weller, And $29 .99, $30
.99, I know that everyone else is going to have
a challenge. All the little, small, developing,
up -and -coming brands have got to realize what
they're up against, what consumers are buying.
And right now, consumers are conservative. You
really got to grab their attention and put the
liquid in front of them, give them a good price
and a good option. And that's why we like the
Horseneck, the 101, the Sherry. Because now with
this new pricing strategy, someone will take
that risk. Three months ago, it was tough. It
was very, very tough. So because when COVID and
everyone put all those probably hundreds of thousands
of barrels to sit, well, they're all ready. It's
2025, almost 2026. So there's a lot of juice
and people are drinking less than ever before.
So that's another faction that you're looking
at. Yeah, that's a new cultural trend. What the
hell's going on? What's wrong with these people?
You have a lot of things. The weight loss drug,
you know, the Ozepics, the GOPs, you know, you
don't want to drink as much anymore. People are
being more health conscious, which I'm all for,
too, as well. You have the new generation that
are drinking THC or smoking. There's alternatives.
There's a couple of other things that people
are using to get their... They're kicks, you
know? So they're fix. Yeah, that is huge. I mean,
I don't subscribe to that, but it's a huge growing
market. When Governor Abbott did not veto that
and they allowed it to push it through, the Total
Wine here in Plano, Texas, they have an aisle
that they were just like, that is probably the
largest revenue that they're taking in the entire
store. That is crazy. And these are THC drinks.
Yes. Correct. Yeah, you're seeing the THC drinks.
You're seeing more aisles with non -alcoholics.
So people are, I mean, even Noah and I, you know,
throughout the year, we'll go maybe a few months
and we're like, hey, we're not drinking. Hold
on, hold on, hold on. Who brought the non -alcoholic
beer and put it in my refrigerator? It wasn't
me. I wasn't there. All right. I don't know.
I woke up the next morning after our Halloween
party and there was a fucking 12 -pack. It wasn't
even opened. You could tell it was an accident.
I don't know if they're fucking with me or what
was going on with that, but I just had to stand.
I don't know who it was, but that was just...
That would break the code. I would never do that.
Anyways, I'm sorry. Go on. No, but I mean, what
kind of was it? Because, you know, with beer,
they're making them taste like the real thing
sometimes. It tasted like a hint. I had an open
one. I was kind of like, well. Well, if you drink
all of them, you may get a buzz. There's like
a .1 in there. Yeah. Drink all of it. Takes the
whole case. It makes so much sense. Seven in
the morning, you grabbed another one. Okay. Well,
you can. It's non -alcoholic. You can have one
right away. Well, that's why he was pissed off.
The only thing in here is non -alcoholic. You
can have it with your eggs and toast and bacon.
Right. No, it did not taste very good, though.
I didn't enjoy it. It's got a little hint of
orange. They are getting better, though. Yeah,
they're getting better. I mean, O'Doul's is not
the go -to anymore. I mean, Heineken has one.
Corona has one. But look, everything is trends.
It's trends. Tequila's hot right now. Any agave
spirit's hot right now. Love tequila. Yeah. I
mean, if one goes up. something will come down.
And that's okay. But trends are like roller coasters.
They come, they go, they come and they go. But
what never dies and what brands or any companies,
they need to start branding. Because if they
start telling their story more, if they start
branding, people love to be part of a culture.
They love to be part of a brand. They want to
be part of that. What separates a lot of these
brands is like, start telling that story constantly,
constantly, constantly. When we first started
our company, and this is what I see a lot of
people that do what we do, they market the brands,
just the brands that they represent, but they
never market their company. And from the very
beginning, we have to always... NVU, NVU, NVU,
NVU. Because brands will come and go, but NVU
is always going to stay here. And now that name
is like people in the industry are like, oh,
I know what NVU is. And that is like something
that will make you money eventually. If you're
not branding right now on any of your social
medias or you're getting your name out there,
you are wasting space right now. And there's
a lot of missed opportunity. You have to brand
as much as you can and get that story out there.
Right. So we did do that. Absolutely. Going back
to your question, we have not slowed down on
the amount of phone calls and emails of businesses
who want a partner. Are you seeing it in the
whiskey lane or the vodkas, the tequilas? Whiskies,
tequilas, and a lot of mezcals. A lot of mezcals.
Mezcal, really. Which I love. I love mezcals.
I mean, I would think this, I mean, you guys
stand to benefit from a stall in the market because
they need your help. Like they're thinking they
can do it on their own. They think they have
everything they need, you know, and then they're
like, this isn't working. We need people like
you. If we do what we've done, we'll get what
we have. And people are realizing that what they're
doing is not working. Right. And so now they're
having to think creatively, probably get on camera
or talk on a video before that they never would
have done that before. And it's like, for example,
like this partnership with Tito's and Lalo. That
was a very big deal in our industry. So everyone
wants to be now that next brand that does that.
So now I think people are getting more social
media savvy, more podcast savvy, or more creative.
They're being forced to. Right. So if someone
wants to order one of your brands that you sponsor,
do they have to go through you? No. No? No. I
mean, they have to buy it either. At the liquor
store or at a bar? I meant like the liquor store.
Like, let's say... Oh, like if they want to partner
with us. So we're not a distributor. You're not,
but I mean... So the way that Texas... Frame
that right. Yeah. So we work closely with...
So let's just take Horseneck, for example. Horseneck
makes the product. They sell it to the distributor.
The distributor then sells it to a retail store.
That's how they can get that product. Right.
That retail store, if they're considered a wholesaler
or a class B, they can sell it to the bars and
restaurants. So what we do is we work very, and
this is also a very painstaking process of managing
or communicating with the distributor. And a
lot of brands don't realize that is a huge headache
on its own. So do you go to like Benny Keith
and these distributors? Benny Keith is a distributor.
With our brands right now, all three of them
are with three different distributors. Yeah.
But you have to go to them, right? Is that right?
We are forming partnerships with them because
Noe and I are just two people. But the more people
that we can influence, the more people that are
going to be out there selling our brand. I see.
Or the more people that are going to be, even
if we're influenced and somebody's listening
to this podcast, they're like, oh, I want to
go and pick up a bottle of Live Oak Vodka or
a Horse Neck Bourbon or Swift Single Malt Whiskey.
Things like that help. But ultimately, when we
try to really partner with a distributor, we're
trying to get the sales team on board, the management
on board. But Noe and I are not delusional either.
There's a lot of shift in the industry. So we
know that distributors are oversaturated with
brands. So we can't just sit in our desk and
bark orders at them. We have to be out there
selling. We have to be out there doing it ourselves.
We have to be, we never stop doing it. We've
always been a company or a people that, you know,
we'll never forget about you, but we don't wait
on you. And we have to go out and make things
happen. Especially again, we're a new company.
A lot of our brands that we represent, you know,
exception of one who's been around for a while.
Nobody's going to talk about your brands, but
you, so you have to be out there. You have to,
it's a constant fight to be out there doing that.
Day in and day out. So not only are you kind
of guiding the distilleries through the process,
end -to -end process, but you're also out there
being their advocate and using your connection
and your influence to get their name out in front
of somebody else's. Combined, there's 40 years
here. And so we use that to our advantage. We
use that to influence high up on the distributor,
sales, management, everybody. Or even buyers,
too. I mean, key independent retail accounts,
bars, restaurants, chains. You know, that's a
lot of relationships that we've built over the
years. Now, we're also, because we have those
relationships, it's not always a shoe -in because
they're like, well, you know, come back when
you have this, this, this, and that. Yeah, sure.
So, you know, and again, we get kicked down a
lot, you know, as far as like, oh, your brands
are not big enough. But one thing that brands,
they probably do or don't know, we have so much
fight. If you ever want somebody in your corner,
it's NVU. Because even if somebody tells me no,
it fuels me. And I'm like, all right, I'll come
back. Watch. Because when somebody slams a door
in my face or whatever, then I'm just going to
go and do it myself and prove everybody wrong.
That's just how I'm built. So that's another
thing that you don't really see in a lot of maybe
people that are representing your brands or whatever.
They're kind of like, okay, whatever. They said
no. They said no. Well, no. I'm going to make
sure I'm going to come back. That reminds me
of the Chris Farley movie. Tommy Boy? Yeah, Tommy
Boy. David Spade and he are trying to sell brakes.
They're like, we don't want it. He's like, oh,
okay. And they just walk out the door and David
Spade's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes
here, man. You got to have some sort of resiliency
to get back in there and fight for it. For sure.
All right, so how good is your golf game? That's
not part of your strategy? Zero. No, but I've
always told him I want to learn golf because
the best business is done on... golf courses.
That was the point I was making. I figured you
guys were traveling and golfing. Especially as
a woman. I don't really see... I don't know.
You tell me. You better hit the driving range
like a hundred times. I'll do it. That should
be part of it because I wouldn't even focus on
playing golf. I would just go to the driving
range, get that muscle memory going. Because
after you get the muscle memory, then it's a
game. Because otherwise, you start off the first
hole and by the time you get to the 18th hole,
you're broken. You have no idea which ends up.
But you guys already know this, but executives,
directors, senior people will never turn down
a free game of golf. Ever. And I think that's
definitely coming in year three. So that should
be part of your strategy. Year four, yeah. That
and some deep sea fishing. Deep sea fishing.
I'm telling you. I'm telling you what executives
and VPs and CIOs. And these guys, they will never
turn down. That's where they would do their.
Deep lake, like up on Texoma. Well, you guys
travel everywhere. Let's talk about that. So
you do maybe not international, mostly continental
United States? Where do you travel? Well, right
now, everything is just Texas. So we're a little
bit, and from this aspect, we're a little bit
old school. We believe in doing business in person.
So we are very much, we'll come and we'll sit
in front of you. We strategically plan meetings,
presentations. We have a shitload of meetings
tomorrow. around that. And the idea is if you're
going to do business with us, you're going to
meet us and we're going to be here and we're
going to come and do events with you and be part
of your business regardless of how many miles
my truck has just got out of the shop. But I
bought it with three miles and it's been five
years and it's got 343 ,000 miles on it. And
it's mostly just because we, from that aspect,
we're very much old school. Very nice. So we
get that extended warranty? It's gone. Well,
hold on. What kind of truck is it that matters
here? Oh, boy. It's not an EV, is it? It's not
a Honda. I will always be indebted to Ford. Very
nice. That's what I have. I have a Ford. I got
a Bronco. We're loving Ford right now. After
Hurricane Harvey, they did us very well, and
I will always be a Ford person. Yeah, my Ford
is broken right now. Really? I have to have it
towed, yeah. What? I think it's the fuel pump.
Yikes. Get on YouTube and figure it out. 13.
13. Yeah. I already swatched the fuse out because
they said, well, the fuse. It was really problematic
with that rain, so I went out and got a new fuse,
popped it in. Still a problem. The starter, it
tries to start, but the engine doesn't turn over.
So it's not getting the fuel or the spark or
something. Something like that, yeah. It's tough.
Put a kick in the butt. Minor things like that,
and you guys being on the road all the time,
that stuff cannot happen. You've got to have
your shit working. We do. Now, are you together
all the time, or do you divide and conquer? Divide
and conquer. Important meetings, we're together.
Or podcasts, we're always together. And yeah,
no, we've learned that we have our roles. And
so Victoria has her side of the building. I have
my side of the building and we stay in each other's
lanes. And every now and then we'll cross over.
But for the most part now, like I said, big distributor
meetings, chain meetings, we'll always do those
together. Nice. That's great. You guys have a
great rapport with each other. You have great,
based on what I've seen, The relationship between
you two is dynamic. I mean, it's so important
for what you guys are doing. And the fact that
you can lean on each other and you're an emotional
guy and you're a dominant woman. So you've watched
the videos. Was that noticeable? I've read about
you guys. Hold on, hold on. What now? I didn't
watch the same video. What are we talking about
here? Well, my point is that you've got a great
chemistry. I mean, you've got obviously a great
relationship. Because look, the rule of thumb
is don't go into business with family because
it'll destroy you. And I think that you guys
have these guardrails up where you stay in your
own lane and you allow each other to do their
job. And then you got to hold each other accountable,
which is also excellent. I admire that. I applaud
you guys for doing it. And I'm excited. I was
super excited waiting for you guys to get on
the podcast so we can have these conversations.
Did you go into business with Tara? But my wife
and I don't have that type of relationship. What
about you and Shelly? Could you go into business?
No. And on advice of counsel, I decline any further
answers. Yeah, my wife and I owned a business
for a short time, and it worked out. She ran
it. I filled in when she wanted time off, basically.
So she basically did the thing, the storefront,
and I would relieve her. So it worked out. She
ran everything, though. So it worked. I mean,
everybody's got different strengths, man. Everybody's
got comfortable with doing different things.
You got to leverage the strengths of each of
you, right? You're two very different people,
I would imagine. Yeah, we are. And we recognize
that. And we're not trying to compete with each
other. And, you know, Noe is... If you're producing
a movie, this is the best way I can describe
it. He's like the producer. He puts a lot of
stuff together. He keeps everything in motion.
He's very, very calm on certain things. And I'm
kind of like the CEO of the movie studio where
it's like a bunch of vision, a bunch of passion,
heart, but I can also talk some major shit and
get like, this has to be done. And we have to
get it done this way. And it works out like that.
You know, he may be on the little, not necessarily
on the softer side, but he is. He's just very
calm on that, and I'm more of the aggressor.
Good cop, bad cop kind of a thing, right? Yeah,
maybe. Yeah, I don't know. I just grew up like
that, and I've always been like that. You know,
we talked about this the other day. I have a
lot of masculine energy from what I was told.
I'll tell you this, when you are a strong woman.
I don't like the way you word that. I do. You're
making us feel very small right now. But in a
very good way because, look, you know, strong
women need somebody like Noe because there's
times where I have so much energy. I do need
somebody to hold me. I need somebody to be like,
okay, it's good. We're good. You don't have to
go and kill everybody. You know what I mean?
Right, right, right, right. But he's on retainer.
but yeah but I think you know sometimes business
is war and life is the same way and so it's like
you need somebody to like man I just that person
that you know has your back and and that's why
Noe and I have always worked out very well in
that and and we never say like when people like
oh who runs the business I'm like we both really
do because if I'm not here I don't know what
how Noe would and if Noe's not here I don't know
how I would do it so we we complement each other
and we we do stay in our lanes it's like hey
you take care of that you take it there's no
like we you know I guess in a little bit you
there is some ego that we're trying to figure
out but then we're like wait a minute the main
mission is for the business to move forward.
It's all about the business. Sometimes we have
a hard time separating wife and business partner
a little bit because we're so business orientated
that we're like, oh shit, have we like said I
love you today? Have we gone on a date? Like
fuck, have we done anything where we're just
kind of just me and you? A lot of times, you
said you guys travel separately a lot? We travel
a lot together, but sometimes when the calendar
is very hectic, we have to separate and like,
hey, you got to stay in this market. I'll stay
in this market. Or we're in the same market.
But how long are you guys away from each other?
Two, three days at the most? At the most, three
days. Okay. That's fair. And frankly, be honest.
I mean, those are healthy. They are. Yeah. Those
are healthy. But you're going over your analytics.
That's mainly your pillow talk. You're going
over the numbers and the volumes. You know what's
really helped us recently is cigars. We have
our cigar nights now. And that is husband -wife.
That is it. There's no business talk. It's hard.
I mean, look. It'll come up. There is no balancing.
When you are building a business, there's no
balance to like, oh, my regular life and this.
It blurs. It's part of my life. It blurs everywhere.
Business is part of our life. So when we are
there smoking cigars, drinking whiskey or bourbons
or whatever we're doing, we're vision casting.
We're like, oh shoot, we should do this. This
is where we should go. This is what we should
do. Like, oh, what if we pivot and do this? Or
what if we suggest this? So it's never, we can,
I can't even imagine. I don't even know one conversation
where we have not ever talked. Business. Or talk
something, which is also a good write -off if
I'm talking business. There we go. Yes. There
we go. You know, the podcast guys, I mean, we
have gone out and smoked cigars. It's not our
thing. Every now and then, I kind of like them
once in a while. I used to have really bad stomach
issues, and so I stopped doing it. But lately,
that hasn't happened. And I have a lot of friends
that smoke them. So I found myself kind of like
taking a puff here and there, talking about cigars,
listeners. And I like doing the smaller, lighter
ones. The darker ones are kind of heavy on me.
But look, I want to take an opportunity right
now to let's dive into what we're drinking tonight.
Yep. Can you do that? Yeah. I'm done with mine.
Yeah. Well, here. We've got to finish this bottle,
and the rest of it's going into the infinity
bottle. So for those listeners out there and
even in -view brands, did you just slam that?
It was half full. Lord. It was not. We have an
infinity bottle. I don't know if you guys noticed
on the table when you were walking in there,
there's a large gallon sitting there. I mentioned
to you on the phone call. Over 80 bottles in
there. It's a ridiculous amount. So what we'll
do is we'll dump the remainder of that in there.
We'll make a notation of exactly what it is.
And during the halftime, we'll give you guys
a bounce on that. But what we got today is this
is Cooperstown Select. It's handcrafted in New
York. It's a four -grain mash. Is this a store
pick? What's the little sticker up there on the
top? You know what? This is pathetic because
I have such bad eyesight that it's gone bad.
All right, so the mash bill is corn, rye, malted
barley from a local farm, and the fourth grain
is oats. I don't think we've had many with oats.
That's a rare fourth grain. Is this the same
bottle? Cooperstown Select. Is this 100 proof?
It sure is, yeah. Well, this one I think we got,
frankly, I thought we got, this is one of our
original ones because when we first started acquiring
all these bourbon bottles, we were like going
to, Friday night would be our excursion. We'd
go to Total Wine, Liquor King, Specs, and we'd
kind of shop around and pick up a $30, $40, $50
bottle. Each of us would buy. We would each buy
it. To start building up our collection, right?
Yeah. And we did it. And then we started like,
hey, man. Hey, Paul keeps buying these bad ones.
Yeah, of course. That's not how it went down.
We started diving into like, we gravitated towards
the wheat ones because there's a process when
people, most people won't just dive in head first
and start, hey, I like rye. You know, usually
it's a softer, easier to drink one, which are
the wheat ones. And that's what we kind of started
getting, like Nine Bandit, you know, Maker's
Mark, which I don't really. That's like one of
the original wellers, I guess. Yeah, wellers.
But then we started noticing that the more we
started tasting them and sampling them, we started
enjoying the more higher proofs and the rise
and the four grains. The single barrels are just
terrific. Well, we also started noticing that
the price point was drifting its way up. And
it was, I can't believe it, but it was better.
Generally. And that's okay, too. Because what
we ended up doing then is, well, the producer,
Chuck, my son used to be the producer for several
years. And now that Chuck's here and he's drinking
the bourbon, we're like, well, fuck, now we can
split it four ways. That's right. Thank God for
Chuck. Yeah, thank God. So now we can drop $100,
$150, $200, $300 on a bottle. God, easy. Oh,
come on. We just kept going up. We're not making
any money. All we're doing is spending money.
As a matter of fact, we need to talk to you guys
about how we can make money. But we do. We do
buy them, is my point. We just enjoy them. Anyway,
so that's kind of how this whole thing started
happening and how our collection started growing.
It's been fun. I like that. So you guys really
didn't know too much about bourbon? We don't
really know anything about bourbon. I love that
because that is the best thing. There's no bias.
You're just like, okay, well, this looks good,
so let me try this. And I think that's the best
way to try to explore new things. I mean, you
have a lot of... I guess. We've turned into snobs.
Well, we're trying not to. Come back to your
humble beginnings because look, I mean, you got
it in every category. Wine, bourbons, whiskeys,
tequilas. And all I say is like, man, for anybody,
if it tastes good to you, drink it. It's your
money. When I was bartending, I had a regular
that would come in all the time. And he, you
know, he had a lot of money and he would, he,
Ciroc vodka was his thing, right? With one ice.
But then, you know, he's like, oh, well, what's
that Louis Trey? Let's get some of that. Let's
get shots of that. And what is it? Like, do you
know, you know, $30? You know, this was back
then. Yeah. It was probably 50. 50 a shot. Is
that like cognac? Yeah. Oh, Louis Trey. Yeah.
It's, you know, very luxury brand. And he's like,
oh, well, let's just get shots and shoot it.
Like, you know, and I think, yeah, it's your
money. I mean, and to some people, that's faux
pas. you're supposed to enjoy it and everything.
That's right. And then he's like, put Coke in
it. Like, you know, things like that. Oh my gosh.
And it's one of those things. Ramey Martin and
Coke. You know, that kind of drove me crazy.
I was like, why are you guys taking such a fantastic
whiskey and killing it? Hey, but at the same
time, it's their money. Let them do what they
want to do and they're spending it. And it's
their taste. And I'm telling you right now, the
company does not care. They're selling it. They're
selling it. But my point is, is that you guys
are. open to trying it. And I've always thought
that, like, I'll always remember this, you know,
especially in the wine industry, there's a lot
of people that know, they think they know wines.
They're not sommeliers, they're not winemakers,
but they're, you know, really into the wines.
And the people that are the least judgmental,
because I've met a lot of winemakers, they're
just like, man, what do you like? Like, oh, you
like that? Great. Like, they're so casual about
it, but you meet somebody that's more of like
the uppity up, oh, you're drinking that. Oh,
my God. I'm like, man. You can't drink that chilled.
My God. My God. What are you doing? Or just like
the brand name or you can't. Oh, no. Yeah. We
agree with that. It's, you know, to each their
own. I mean, we all have developed our own thing
that we like to drink most. I mean, Paul has
a unique. No, no. This isn't a slam. You like
a specific type of whiskey. That's kind of like.
Like a life cereal kind of taste. You like that.
Oh, you're talking about the heavily weeded one.
Yeah, just like, I mean. It tastes like bread.
Yeah. I loved it. You guys were like. That's
my point is that we all kind of like, because
what we're going to do is, so this is the Cooperstown
Select. So I forget exactly what it is. This
is a bottle and bond. It's 100 proof. It's not
a bottle and bond. Well, it's 100 proof. I thought
I saw a bottle and bond. I guess not. So it says
here. I was going to read this. It's interesting
that it has oats in it. I think this is our one
and only with an oats. I'm not a huge fan of
this, honestly. I'll just tell you right now.
I would not replace this, depending on the price
point. If it's $30, $40 maybe, but I'm not going
to go out of my way. The black tea, I could definitely
taste the black tea because that's what that
resonates afterwards when you're done with it.
Initially, you get the sweetness, the butterscotch.
Then you got this little punch that just carries
through like you would hope a white pepper would
do, but this one is the black tea. It's a little
harsh finish. I'm not a huge fan of that. My
first pour on this, I tasted a lot of that yeasty
cereal flavor for me. Now that it's been in my
glass a while, I don't pick that up anymore,
but that first pour outside, I definitely picked
it up, but I didn't like it at all. So I let
it sit. You saw how fast I drank it, but it got
better for me. It's very easy to drink. Yes.
It's very easy. I mean, I wouldn't kick it out
of bed. Don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't go
to the store and order it. What are your thoughts?
I'm probably the wrong person. I haven't tasted.
A ton of Burmese. Are you kidding me? She could
be going to work for these folks. And you want
her to leave her job on the line? As a matter
of fact, they just sent them an email. I mean,
look, you know, it's not the worst thing I've
ever had in my mouth. So I'm like, it's not bad.
It's really not bad. It's just. I think it's
drinkable, and I can't really compare it to other
stuff. You guys have drank it a lot more than
I have in that category. But for me, it's not
something like, oh, I don't think it's spit out
of my mouth. I mean, I'm sipping it, so I think
that's good. But for somebody who isn't as savvy
in that category, I think it's good, and it's
approachable. Well, Noe Report, what do you think
about it? Yeah, I mean, I think there's that
cereal taste, that note, and it doesn't bother
me as much. So I personally, I don't know if
this is faux pas or not, but I would put a cube
and see where it took me. But outside of that,
it was okay. Sean likes spit in his. So let's
clarify. What? Let's clarify. That's what he
said. Let's clarify. So when he's saying that,
I'm not saying, like some people will take a,
what is it, a pipette? They'll get some distilled
water and they'll drop it in there. And me, I
don't like to do that. He goes... That's not
true. That's fake news. Let's never mix up glasses.
What I like to do is I like to take it and I
like to swish it in my mouth for an extended
period and let it dilute a little bit and get
into the system. And eventually it'll get to
where I'd like it. And if it doesn't, then God
bless it. Spit it back out. You swallow it. I
do not. There's no regurgitation involved in
this. He's gargled a few times. But that was
by accident because it went down the wrong pipe.
I was teary -eyed. You guys saw that. Very painful.
But look, as far as rating this thing, I'm going
to have to give this... Look, I feel bad because
this is worse than Eagle Rare. And I gave Eagle
Rare a poor score. Eagle Rare is way better than
this. So you're like a 2 or a 3. I gave Eagle
Rare, I think, a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. And
look, whatever. For what it is, I just gave it.
These guys disagree with me, strongly disagree
with me. You gave it a 5. I upped it. Okay. So
it was 3 .8, then I upped it to 5. We shamed
him to the point where he gave it an even 5.
No. Look, in all fairness, it... It struck me
off on a bad day. I don't know. Everyone's palates
change. You should put Ambarana in it. Yeah,
I got to tell you. Have you guys ever experimented
to put an Ambarana Staves? Ambarana Staves? No.
Are you familiar with? No, not at all. So have
you heard of RD1 Spirits? You've heard of Big
Mike, Big Stick? Big Mike, he doesn't use Ambarana.
He does not, but it's the process. It's the stave
concept. It's the stave concept that goes in.
Oak and Eden puts a lot of staves in their stuff,
but RD1 Spirits does it in the barrel, but you
can buy Ambarana. Lasso also makes one with Ambarana.
in it. So you can go to order it on Amazon for
those folks that are listening. You can buy a
couple sticks of the Ambarana staves. It comes
in two sticks. It's like $20 for two staves.
Each stave does about three gallons. You just
chip off a few chunks of it, drop it into a big
bottle, and let it sit. We went over to... It's
a surprising impact. It really is. You could
take a mediocre, like you could take a Green
Label Wellers or a 101 Wild Turkey. I put it
in Jim Beam. Yeah. And you just add it on there,
and it This thing comes from Mexico. It's a furniture
wood. Who would have thought? And it's got such
a cinnamon. Cinnamon. nestle toast crunch kind
of it's wonderful impact on it and it's it's
shocking the hell out of me and so now we're
kind of experimenting we buy the big bottles
the one and a halves and uh we're adding it to
it just let it sit for a week or two i got the
old granddad 114 out there with it sitting in
there if you want to take a little sample you
take a big sample we had it last week oh yeah
i remember that yeah I'm going to rate this.
Look, this is not going to be a high score. So
I'm sorry for those folks out of Cooperstown.
Select from New York to four grain. Look, I'm
going to give this a four. I'm going to give
it a four. A four. I'm not too... That's what
I want. One of the challenges we have when we
compare these... We've had so many now at so
many different price points that we look at this
price point, we look at that proof, and we're
like, man, there's so many other ones we would
do rather than this one. And then it ends up
kind of pushing their score down, right? But
I would probably go with the 4 .8. Yeah, I was
right at 5 on this. I think I liked it a little
bit better than you guys. Outside of that very
first pool out there, it calmed down for me.
But the finish is harsh. Yeah, it's got that
lingering black tea kind of effluent. But you
know what we always say? Every single time we
finish with what we consider a harsh review.
Can I have another one? No, well, that too. But
if we were sitting around a fire and somebody,
a guest or a friend, brought over this bottle,
we'd be like, you know, hey, probably not the
best we've had, but hey, pretty good, man. You
know what I mean? We would all enjoy it. None
of us would spit it out. Well, I mean, Sean would
spit it out. And then he'd drink it again. It
tastes very sweet. It's got a very sweet taste
to it. I think the best indicator is like if
nobody was around, are you going to be pulling
that bottle from your shelf to have it for yourself?
That is a great litmus test. What's the bottle
that you're always gravitating to? Yeah, what
you go to. Absolutely. That's a great point.
Mine's early times bottle and bond recently.
Yeah, I'm all over the place. I'm a little bit
more pompous. I like Frey Ranch. I'm really,
really, really gravitating towards the Frey Ranch.
I wish you were a freak. God bless. Plus, that
well is a green label with the Ambarana. I'm
telling you, I'm tripping out on that. I'm all
over the place, though. My go -to is the 1845
Four Grain. I got to tell you, the Four Grain
1845? Yeah. Have you guys talked to these folks
out in Lowry Crossing? I sent them a couple of
emails, and I actually got one of their bottles
at the event. I think it is the Four Grain. It
was good. So they have two tiers of their alcohol.
They sell the 100 proof across the board of all
their products, and then they have the barrel
proof, right? The 116, 114. So we gravitate to
the higher proof stuff. It's simply richer. That's
what we're finding. But I understand that the
typical market consumer. It overwhelms them.
It overwhelms them, and that's why the 190 and
80 proofs are the go -tos for people. But these
guys have a fantastic product. They really do.
And they're great people, and you're into great
people. They're Texas, and they have a great
story. I'd love to introduce you to them. I know
you spent some emails out. We all know the owners,
Bob and June Pettit, and their son Bob. I'm sorry.
God bless him. What's his son's name? Ben. Ben.
And the distiller on the right, Miguel Perez.
Christian and Bill. And they also have a winery
out there. They're a great crew. Yeah, they're
great people. Nice. Anyway. They're great. We
buy all their stuff. I have all their bottles.
They're having a lot of stuff. Dario Noe, do
you want to chip in with the rating or do you
want to defer? Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't want to
chip in with the rating, but I do have my go
-to right now. Okay, yeah. What's your go -to?
The Lasso. The cigarette blend. Really? Oh, yeah.
No, it's cigarette. Oh, it's cigarette blend.
That's a Dallas whiskey. I think you're right.
It is cigarette blend. Yeah, you do. Do you mind
pulling that up for us? Every time I'm making
a drink or I'm just having a neat, I'm just like,
holy fuck, I love this. I've seen it at Total
Wine. I'm not sure I'm familiar with it. Pull
that up real quick. All right, so let's take
a look. Lasso, they're kind of the square bottles.
Yeah. It darts cigarette blend. There you go.
Oh, yeah. That's it. That's the exact. Bottle
you're talking about? Yeah. They have an older
bottle out there that's a little higher proof.
I think I sent you guys that picture of me drinking
at some dude's house that I had no idea who he
was, and all of a sudden I ended up, I just manifested
there. I don't even know how I got there. I was
just like, poof, I'm here. And then he starts
passing all these drinks. I wish I could go through
the phone and look, but I'm not. But he had like
an 18 -year lasso. Whoa. It was off the freaking
hook. Well, I know that, and I'll bring up Liquor
Library, but he turned us on to it. We had a
sample, and I was like, whoa. And I rarely will
buy bottles that are not our products. Right.
And I was like, I'm taking this. Nice. Yeah.
So what are the specs of the lasso bottle? What's
the proof? Yeah, they have several expressions.
Yeah, the yellow label, I think, is the Ambarano.
All right, so what's this one, though? What's
the proof on it? Oh, it's 100 proof. Food pairings,
beef and salty snacks. Well, there you go. You
had me at beef and salty snacks. They use three
different barrel finishes. Nice. Yeah, Lasso
puts out some... Are they MGP or do they distill
their own? I believe they're still MGP. Yeah,
they do it all down at some hotel in Dallas,
don't they? Yeah, it's something like that. Some
old hotel. Good little following. It's the name.
They got the... Right there, Lasso, the Ambarana
cast finish motel. No tell, no tell. How much
time do we have left? I want to ask one more
question if I've got time. Yeah, let's roll it.
All right. Let's see. So you've been, you're
not new to the business, but two years in, so
far, what is the absolute coolest thing that
you have been a part of yet in terms of meeting
people that you got excited about meeting or
some event that you were like, damn, this is
amazing? I'm never putting my keys in that basket
again. Right, that kind of party. Like, what's
the coolest thing you've seen so far? I think
there's a couple. You know, we have one brand,
Live Oak Vodka, that, you know, as long as we've
been in the industry, I've come into this industry
where the brands are already made, right? They're
already developed and we're representing them
and, you know, but this one, we are really, all
of our brands, well, especially this one, we're
building it from the ground up. Yeah. And just
seeing... it grow and to being part of it when
it first, almost when it first started and seeing
the evolution of it has been amazing. It's like
family. It's just non, it's just, it's going
to be a nonstop train. Um, and then the other
one is kind of funny. It's not really funny,
but there is a event called sand fest and Port
Aransas, Texas. Have you guys ever been there
in the beach town? I've been there, but I haven't
been to... What is it? Sandfest. Sandfest? Sandfest.
Yeah. If you go on our page on our NVU brands,
there's a little video of us doing a recap on
it. But Noe and I were involved with that for
10 years. And we had all of our... Whatever brand
we worked for at the time, we would be featured
in the VIP tent. And then one of the biggest
things that they take these big, you know, all
these artists come in and they're building these
big sand sculptures. And in one of the entrances,
they have all the brand sponsor names. And so
normally it would always be the brand that we
were representing, whatever it was, like Live
Oak Vodka or just, you know, when Noe was at
Absolute, that was on there. This past year,
NVU Brands was on there, and it was so cool.
Very cool. I thought that was so cool. But there's
so many different things. I think it's just seeing
something grow that just is like, I don't know
if it's ever going to happen. And then seeing
it finally getting some steam and rolling, and
we want to see that with all of our brands. But
when's the next event? Well, Sandfest is next
year around, I think when I said April. Yeah,
the end of March, April. But one of our brands,
we grew up almost in Port A, very close in Corpus
Christi. But again, when you finally see a brand
just take that turn, it's like, okay. And the
feeling you have. The feeling that we were a
part of that. You had a hand in making it happen.
Absolutely. So I think that's one of the coolest
things. And then seeing our logo, even though
he's wearing an NVU hat right now, just like
the brands there, we're representing and we're
doing some really big things. So that's always
exciting. And it makes it real. It makes it real.
Well, we're so excited that you guys joined us
tonight. I hope you're going to stay around for
the second half. I don't know if you've got somewhere
to be or you have an early morning tomorrow morning.
Up to you guys. Well, NVU Brands, check them
out on Instagram, Facebook, nvubrands .com. Is
that right? That's correct. It's been a great
first half. I want you guys to stick around.
Hopefully you will. Give me some more whiskey.
We've got some samples. We have a couple hundred
out there. We have a ton of topics on the board,
and we can just talk. You can shoot shit about
what's going on in the world. Second half will
be a little bit different. We're going to pull
some different strings. Uh -oh. We'll just go
with the flow like we normally do. Let's do it.
All right. Well, that's the first half of the
Dudes Like Us podcast. It's November 4th. Chuck,
thank you for staying on top of shit. MVU Brands,
God bless it. Dudes Like Us. I'm Sean. I'm Paul.
I'm Jeff. Victoria. Noe.