"I was like, 'Maybe I should just do a set on bourbon,'" Jim Gaffigan told the Unicorn Review. "My manager and agent were like, 'That's a horrible idea. Don't you want to make money?'" Turns out Jim Gaffigan was onto something—his new Bourbon Set on YouTube has gotten over a million views, and is a funny and nerdy (in the best way) look at the whiskey community. We spoke to him to find out more about his love of bourbon, comedy, and collecting.

The Unicorn Review: I watched the Bourbon Set yesterday, and it was really funny. Obviously, I'm a target audience for this type of humor. But I wanted to ask, have you ever done something like this where you're making such a specific, themed set before? Is that harder to do than a special that covers a lot of different topics?

Jim Gaffigan: It's been a progression, topic-wise. A long time ago when I started, I had a bunch of jokes about the manatee. Then I had a bunch of jokes about Hot Pockets. Then I did a bunch of jokes about bacon. You develop these skill sets that you hopefully can apply to anything. When my wife had a brain tumor, I did this special where I focused maybe ten minutes on that. Stand-up is very much self assignment, so focusing on bourbon and the American whiskey world was… I mean, obviously, no one asked for it. But it's much easier to write about something you love, right?

I'm a pandemic bourbon guy. The pandemic really opened me up to whiskey. Then I started collecting, and I started Fathertime with Stu [Pollard]. I decided to do a mini tour called the Bourbon and Whiskey Tour through Kentucky and Tennessee. I did a show in Lexington where we invited a bunch of people from the whiskey world. I had probably eight or ten minutes [of material] at that point. I was like, “Maybe I should just do a set on bourbon.” My manager and agent were like, “That's a horrible idea. Don't you want to make money?”

"A love letter to bourbon"

You really hit upon all the things that people in the bourbon world are constantly thinking about and obsessing over. While I was watching, I wondered if there were Brown-Forman executives standing on the sidelines who were nervous about some of the things that you were talking about, like the health effects of alcohol, alcoholics, and making fun of liquor store employees. Did you have free reign to do whatever you wanted?

Obviously, this is a love letter to bourbon. So when I decided to do it as a Bourbon Set, I knew it would be a YouTube thing. I knew that I wanted to get a partner to pay for production because I didn't want to lose money on this. I also knew that I wanted to do it in a distillery or in a rickhouse, but there's flammable stuff there. When I tour around doing stand-up, I have the opportunity to invite craft distilleries in the area to my shows. I get to hang out and talk to these inspiring, ambitious people, everyone from an NDP to someone like Highwire, where they resurrected red corn. 

I knew I wanted it to be in Kentucky. Initially I thought I’d go to a big brand or a mid-sized brand. I went to the big ones, the big six, and I laid out the idea. Some of them just have such a corporate bureaucracy, understandably. They would contemplate the idea, but they're like, “You can't mention any other brand. You can't say this or that.”
But Brown-Forman and Old Forester got it. Campbell Brown came to the Lexington set, and most importantly, he gave me bottles of President's Choice and Jack Daniel's 14 Year Old. So I knew that I loved this guy.

"The hatred towards people who love Blanton's is bizarre"

You have a history of donating special experiences to Unicorn to raise money for charity. I was looking at the single barrel picks that you did as part of that. What is that like for you, going to distilleries and doing single barrel picks? Does it ever get old for you or is it fun each time you're doing that?

For the Old Forester pick, I was sitting with Chris Morris and Campbell and Caleb [Trigo], who's now the assistant master distiller. People get excited to meet Brad Pitt, I get excited to meet Chris Morris. It was Stu Pollard's idea, where we could put these up for different auctions. So we did the Blackhawk one [for Unicorn]. There is such a level of generosity that exists in the whiskey world that is displayed in the fundraising auctions. It’s like how brands stepped up to help Heaven Hill [after the fire] that was just like… you wouldn't see that in any other American business.

What are the most annoying and most endearing things about nerdy bourbon collectors?

I think the best thing is that you can talk to a fellow bourbon geek for an hour and never discuss your career, your socioeconomic situation, or anything that could divide people. It's this incredible, unifying thing that people can be enthusiastic and opinionated about. People can be like, “I'm a Wild Turkey guy,” and someone else is like, “I like Dickel and I don't care what you say.”

There is something about the collecting thing, where collecting and not consuming is frowned upon. It’s a little bit of a lightning rod. I totally appreciate [that whiskey is] meant to be consumed and you're not creating a museum. But the collector spirit, there's something fun about it that is independent of the juice.

I'm always looking for two bottles—one to drink and one to keep. I've never been the type that would show off what I've got anyway. There are comedians that show pictures of them getting on a private jet, but I would never do that. Some of these collections are truly beautiful and the curation of them is artistic. I'm not saying I have that. I don't have any super expensive bottles. But I don't think it's bad that some people treat it as an investment.

I think the hatred towards people who love Blanton's is bizarre. I wanted to make that a joke, just because it's like, whatever gets someone into the [whiskey] passion is good. We all know that it's tater bait, and of course I'd rather have Straight from the Barrel than some 96 or 84 proof Blanton's. But I don't care. Whenever I've offered bourbon to someone in my house, they always want Blanton’s, and I'm not going to make them feel like shit about that.

"Hazmats are fun, but I would like to be able to read the next day"

You touch on celebrity-backed spirits in the Bourbon Set, but you actually appear to be someone who knows his shit and and collects and is interested and goes to distilleries and meets people. In the world of celebrity-backed spirits, does it actually matter if you have knowledge and interest, or ultimately does it not matter to the public?

I think authenticity is what's so great about the bourbon world. Some of it's authenticity, some of it’s science, some of it's storytelling, some of it's just bullshit. But I think the perception of celebrity spirits being a money grab is well founded. We've all tried plenty of celebrity spirits where you're like, “I can't believe how bad this is. You're one of the best athletes or actors, how could it be this bad?” With Fathertime, Stu and I are aware that the stigma does exist, and authenticity has to be earned.

I'm just following my passion. But have to balance your passion with not going so far as to give it up. These master distillers, the last thing that can happen is for them to have to go to AA, right? It's kind of like a torn ACL in the NBA. You're just done.

How do you feel about hazmat whiskey? 

I'm a proof whore, so I am seduced by the hazmat thing. But I know it's a craze. I went to an amazing whiskey bar in Houston called Reserve 101. The owner was there, and we were drinking some hazmat Garrison Brothers. It was 151 proof. Look, it wasn't as smooth as King of Kentucky, but it's an experience. Hazmats are fun, but I would like to be able to read the next day.

By the second release of Fathertime, I was already on my high-proof run, which we call Empty Nester Strength. I like to drink two cask-strength bourbons a night. But if I'm in a situation where I get a third one, it's messing me up the next day. It's fun to drink hazmat bourbon, but then you try something like a Birthday Bourbon, and you're like, “Oh my God, this is so much better.”

"George Remus was a terrible person"

In the Bourbon Set, you talk about how comedy is similar to bourbon in that the stories behind each don't have to be true. Are there any bourbon stories in particular that stand out as BS to you?

Part of me is like, don't hate the player, hate the game. I think that the Jefferson’s Ocean thing is a great example of that. Jefferson's is obviously a great brand, and I think that Jefferson’s Ocean was a cool story. But now it's kind of run its course. In other words, the integrity behind the story is not sustainable. I don’t blame it, though, it's a good story.

I love the good and the bad. Like George Remus, he was a terrible person. But there probably was a moment where people were like, “George Remus, fuck yeah!” The stories behind whiskey, similar to the entertainment industry, there's going to be an arc to them. Some of them have an aftertaste. In comedy, we all have friends that are really funny, but they're bitchy and mean. And so you laugh, but then you feel bad. You're like, “I wish I didn't laugh at that.” 
And that's the same with some of these bourbon stories.

People are drinking less for various reasons. Are you seeing a dip in how people are consuming and getting interested in whiskey? Or do you think that within the bourbon community, the interest is still just as high? 

I'm certainly not an expert, but maybe I'm an optimist. I understand that consumption is down, and it probably has to be down compared to my parents' generation or grandparents’, the way they consumed alcohol. But I do think there's something social about alcohol, and specifically whiskey. I was a beer guy, and you can throw back five or six beers and still kind of be coherent. I think that quality whiskey is always going to have an appeal because once people get to try a quality whiskey, it's just like, “Oh, I didn't know it tastes like this. I was used to Rumple Minze.”

Pot is great if you want to just disappear, but if you're going to hang out with friends, alcohol can lubricate a social setting. That's my optimistic take. But it's not great for you. I don't really smoke cigars, but I think the way someone consumes a cigar, like they're with their buddies after they play a round of golf, I don't think that's going to kill them. It probably lowers their blood pressure to have this ritual of sharing a cigar with a friend. 

"I like bourbon flavored bourbon"

I have a question for you. What are your favorite bourbons of the year? 

I really like Redemption 18. It's getting up there in age for bourbon, but I thought they just just did a fantastic job. I liked Knob Creek 21. I kind of liked it better than the 18, but not as much as the 15. And I'm not a chaser of high age statements at all.

I'm just worried because Knob Creek 21 is only 100 proof, right? I always think if you're going to do the age, give me the proof.

What about you? Do you have any favorites of the year so far? 

I'm still having my “a-ha” moments. The Al Young [Four Roses] was amazing. I like Michter’s 20, I get the enthusiasm for it. I don't want to say anything negative about a specific brand, but sometimes I kind of expect more. And then there's ones where I'll try it with the distiller, and I'll be like, “That's great.” And then I'll try it later on and I'll be like, “Maybe I was in a really good mood because it's just okay.”

I did this veterans event, and there was an Old Line sherry cask single malt. I've never been a single malt guy, but it was great. I'm also getting into dusty stuff, which is a whole other kind of endeavor. A Willett Purple Top is just next level of shit for me, too. I'm always blown away by a Peerless or a New Riff. I'm wondering when the bourbon hype is going to explode these brands. I look at New Riff and Peerless and I'm like, I can't believe that the hype train hasn't propelled this to another level. 

I'm not a rye guy. I keep waiting for that step in maturity to occur. But I also think that Bardstown Bourbon Company is always consistently good. 
There was I think a sherry cask finish that was just unbelievable that Dan had given me. 

During the Bourbon Set, there were jokes that I could really only do in Kentucky, right? I've never been a huge barrel finish guy. I had this joke and I did it during, I think, two of the Bourbon Sets (there were four shows). I'm sure there's a good version of it, but I've never had an amburana cask finish that I’ve liked. I'm like, “Are we that bored?” The whole finishing thing is tricky. Sometimes it's repairing the juice and sometimes you want to experiment. But I like bourbon flavored bourbon.