Country Star Jordan Davis Sips Larceny, Parker’s Heritage, Talks Music in a Pandemic

Fred’s guest on this episode is country singer Jordan Davis, whose eponymous EP was released in May as a follow-up to his 2018 debut, Home State. The whiskey-centric show starts with a brief discussion about beard grooming, then gets into Jordan’s first hand experience with Jefferson’s Ocean barrels, Fred’s 1-year-old son Julian and his fascination with Fred’s stuff, the evils of bad whiskey, Jordan’s family’s whiskey bootlegging traditions and plenty more, including the pandemic’s effect on music and musicians.

Here are the bourbons they tasted:

Wyoming Whiskey Cask Strength (7:50)
Larceny Barrel Proof B520 (14:11)
Parker’s Heritage Collection 11 Year Old Single Barrel (18:55)
Distillery 291 Colorado Rye Whiskey (31:37)

Fred also showed a lot of interest in Jordan’s experience on a boat at sea with the Jefferson’s barrels. He tells Jordan he asked the distillery to have that experience and “they invited me to go swimming with the sharks.” Oops. Not this time.

EPISODE SUMMARY

This episode takes a lot of interesting turns. Here are a few highlights.

Thanks to the pandemic, Jordan admits he has learned to groom his own beard – and what a beard it is.
Jordan talks about what he and his band drink on the road – Basil Hayden – and how many bottles they go through a night.
Fred and Jordan bond over their idea of an ideal night by a fire.
Fred gives Jordan a few pointers about finding fruit pie in bourbon.
Jordan asks Fred about how he got into bourbon, a story which goes back to 2005 after Fred returned home from his tour of military duty in Iraq.
Jordan later reminisces about his dad’s love for bourbon and calls it “a special liquid.” Fred agrees, saying, “Bourbon transcends every race, every creed, every political belief. … Imagine a place in this work right now where you don’t have to talk politics.” Over bourbon, that’s possible.
Jordan confesses that his wife isn’t a whiskey fan – but he’s trying. Fred laments that his wife Jaclyn likes to steal his best bourbon, sometimes for making whiskey sours, much to Fred’s chagrin.
They talk about a cocktail called the Brown Derby, which was a Hollywood bar where the cocktail of the same name originated. Fred tells the story of going to Disney’s re-creation of the bar – which didn’t even have a Brown Derby on the cocktails menu. (Insert eyeroll here.)
Jordan tells the story of finding one of his favorite guitars, on which he wrote two hit songs, as well as how the pandemic has affected him and all musicians.
They wrap it up with Jordan ranking the whiskeys they tried: Parker’s, Larceny, Colorado Rye and Wyoming Whiskey.

QUOTABLES

When Fred notes that Jordan is from Shreveport, Louisiana, he mentions he knows folks in his town like to drink whiskey. Jordan doesn’t fight back for a minute: “We do like to tip a bottle back.” Of course, Jordan likes his cigars and meat, too. His ideal evening would be a campfire, a fine whiskey, a cigar and “meat with a side of protein.” Fred agrees, “This isn’t a place for vegetables.”

WHISKEYS TASTED

https://distillery291.com/

https://larcenybourbon.com/

https://heavenhilldistillery.com/parkers-heritage-collection.php

https://www.wyomingwhiskey.com/

FOLLOW JORDAN

https://www.facebook.com/jordandavisofficial

https://www.instagram.com/jordandavisofficial

https://twitter.com/JordanCWDavis

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLEhUvVUBhH8Q9Mx6Bz3BQA/featured

FOLLOW FRED

https://www.instagram.com/fredminnick/