JCS: Whiskey of the Week 10/9/2026
FORWARD/SLASH Distillery & Blending House celebrate this spooky time of year by releasing 4 distinct bourbons named after cryptids from across the globe, and this week is The Wendigo – The cursed spirit of the American Wilderness.
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Speaker 1: Brother Jim, struggling to find justification in why this person
Speaker 1: would say anything to you about pouring coffee on the street.
Speaker 1: Back in the day in Hawaii, say that to the
Speaker 1: wrong person, that might get you pulled out through the
Speaker 1: car window. Couple false cracks, you might need a medivac,
Speaker 1: but yeah, man, total care and move.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean, you still got your cup.
Speaker 3: Aloha.
Speaker 4: Aloha, brother.
Speaker 2: Just keep pouring them coffee out the window, Jim, near
Speaker 2: the water.
Speaker 1: Because coffee gives you.
Speaker 3: Energy, right?
Speaker 5: So the fish drinks it, you know, they get energy.
Speaker 4: And then, you know, they go do more quickies.
Speaker 5: And then, you know, next thing you know, you got
Speaker 5: more fishes in the water.
Speaker 4: Hey, man.
Speaker 1: Hey, Colbert crew.
Speaker 3: Hey, Sarah, what's going on? I'm at work, so I
Speaker 3: won't be able to listen to the rest of the
Speaker 3: show until my lunch break. But there has been some
Speaker 3: mornings where I've been very hungover. and drinking my coffee
Speaker 3: on the way to work, and I have to pull over,
Speaker 3: and I have to get rid of that coffee. And
Speaker 3: now I feel really bad because I have been hurting
Speaker 3: the environment. I mean, mind you, all that was like
Speaker 3: over a year ago, right?
Speaker 4: You're fine. The environment's fine.
Speaker 3: I've ruined the environment with throw-up coffee.
Speaker 4: Throw-up coffee.
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2: That's how she had to get rid of the coffee.
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: No cup needed. Your 4 o'clock keyword is win, W-I-N.
Speaker 6: Got about eight minutes or so to get over to
Speaker 6: realradio.fm and send that away for your chance at $ 1, 000.
Speaker 6: And remember, we had two winners back-to-back today, so the
Speaker 6: safe is open.
Speaker 4: Go get that money, guys. Win is the word. I'm Jim.
Speaker 4: There's Deb. Hello. And Ross as well.
Speaker 3: True.
Speaker 4: Let's do Whiskey of the Week.
Speaker 1: Forward slash distillery and blending house present Whiskey of.
Speaker 4: The Week on the Jim Colbert Show. That's right, guys.
Speaker 6: Whiskey of the Week brought to you by our good
Speaker 6: friends over at forward slash drink forward slash dot com
Speaker 6: on Instagram. Drink forward slash. This is a blending house
Speaker 6: here in Orlando, Florida. The only one in the city
Speaker 6: of Orlando. Actually, I think one of the only ones
Speaker 6: in Florida.
Speaker 4: They are very rare. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: And what they do is they bring in one of their.
Speaker 6: blended whiskeys that we feature every single week, hoping that
Speaker 6: you'll go over there. Yesterday, we had a really nice text,
Speaker 6: and actually this past weekend, I talked to somebody who,
Speaker 6: on our recommendation, went over to forward slash to get
Speaker 6: one of their cocktails.
Speaker 4: Their Halloween thing is like full blast right now, right?
Speaker 5: I will be judging their costume contest on Halloween night.
Speaker 4: Dude, that's awesome. I will be there.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but actually, my daughter has a friend that went
Speaker 6: over and said that she got this margarita-esque kind of
Speaker 6: cocktail that was one of the best things ever. And
Speaker 6: you can actually go to their website, and they show
Speaker 6: you the list of their Halloween cocktails.
Speaker 4: Simply amazing.
Speaker 6: But we had a text yesterday that said, hey, look,
Speaker 6: on your recommendation, my wife and I went to Forward
Speaker 6: Slash and got some whiskey. And not only were the
Speaker 6: cocktails amazing, the guys came out, and when I told
Speaker 6: them it was from the Jim Colbert show, they gave
Speaker 6: them both a free shot.
Speaker 3: Nice.
Speaker 4: Which is like one of those coolest things.
Speaker 5: Every time they've been in studio, they keep offering that.
Speaker 5: And hello, our listeners, go there, get your free shot.
Speaker 5: Not to mention it's a cool-ass spot.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, very cool. So this week's Whiskey of the Week
Speaker 6: is from their Cryptid series. And for you guys, what
Speaker 6: they do is they get bottles of whiskey or whiskey
Speaker 6: barrels from all over the nation from different distilleries. They
Speaker 6: take those barrels, kind of figure out what exactly in
Speaker 6: those barrels tastes good to them. Then they start blending
Speaker 6: them together to create an entire different flavor. And that's
Speaker 6: where we get these whiskeys. This is the Cryptid series.
Speaker 6: And this is the Wendigo American Maple. The cursed spirit
Speaker 6: of the American wilderness, Jack. I nailed it this time.
Speaker 1: Oh, really?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: This is a Holt and Capen blend of 7- and
Speaker 6: 8-year-old high rye bourbons, 57% ABV or 114 proof, cask strength,
Speaker 6: finished in American maple staves. And it's all maple for me, man.
Speaker 6: I feel like I need pancakes with this whiskey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: It says.
Speaker 6: The syrup comes from the sap of the maple. Look,
Speaker 6: I just passed this under my nose as I'm reading this,
Speaker 6: and the waft of it smells like syrup.
Speaker 2: It's a pretty strong bouquet of maple.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can get that maple immediately.
Speaker 2: And also, if I may say, there was a heavy
Speaker 2: maple taste on the back end.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: All right, nice.
Speaker 4: You drink it there?
Speaker 6: Jimmy, you've got to give him credit.
Speaker 4: That joke deserved more. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry. It took a delay. That's okay. I will
Speaker 5: tip your server.
Speaker 4: I mean, Jack has been practicing. He's been practicing today.
Speaker 4: He really wants to get the notes.
Speaker 6: So this was a fan favorite with their whiskey club.
Speaker 6: It's an absolute dream of a dram is what they say.
Speaker 6: Fans of their Tampa Cigar Week whiskey as well. So
Speaker 6: this not only goes well. By the way, anything a
Speaker 6: little sweet goes well with whiskey. With a cigar. And
Speaker 6: this does have a little bit of sweet. I'll take
Speaker 6: one little nip here real quick.
Speaker 4: Have you had it, Ross? Oh, yeah.
Speaker 5: I've polished off mine. I think I grabbed my first
Speaker 5: sip at $ 2.
Speaker 3: 58.
Speaker 2: Texter is asking where Forward Slash is. It is in
Speaker 2: Winter Park. Near Holton Capon right there in that crossroads.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what I told you. Right by Rollins.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: The Holton Capon. Those are the crossroads right there. Yeah,
Speaker 6: super maple-y, a little sweet up front, but not like
Speaker 6: syrupy sweet. Like you were saying, maple a lot. I
Speaker 6: don't want people to think they're just basically getting whiskey-flavored syrup.
Speaker 4: That's not it at all. It's just strong, too, guys. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Well, I've always been kind of impressed that I can
Speaker 5: drink their spirits straight because they're not 80 proof, usually.
Speaker 4: At least I don't know if this one is.
Speaker 2: This one is 114.7 proof.
Speaker 5: I don't drink 114 proof any other spirit other than
Speaker 5: forward slash because they get away with it. I don't
Speaker 5: know what sorcery they do to be making over 50%
Speaker 5: alcohol liquor with And it feels and tastes as soft
Speaker 5: as an 80 proof. Believe the hype, man. Orlando, we're lucky.
Speaker 6: I tell you what, this is one of the best
Speaker 6: smelling whiskeys I've ever had. This is a treat. You
Speaker 6: can just put a dish of this open in your house.
Speaker 6: It would be delicious. It would smell amazing.
Speaker 2: Hey, Deb, would you grab the bottle and put it
Speaker 2: on camera? Because the labels on, I think, the labels
Speaker 2: on the Cryptid series are their best.
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 2: It very much fits with their whole celebration of October.
Speaker 2: And they celebrate it at, you know, they call it
Speaker 2: Forward Slasher.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: And for the whole month, they celebrate with their wild,
Speaker 2: they'll have their Halloween party as well that Ross.
Speaker 4: Will be at. Oh, and Halloween.
Speaker 5: They're going to have a bunch of contests, a lot
Speaker 5: of prizes, a lot of whiskey.
Speaker 6: Going to be a blast. That's hot up front. You
Speaker 6: get that because there's big alcohol in that. So you
Speaker 6: get that right up front. I mean, it gets into
Speaker 6: your sinuses pretty quick, dissipates fast, and then Jack's right
Speaker 6: on the back end of that, right on your palate.
Speaker 6: You get that beautiful maple flavor because here's the thing.
Speaker 6: You don't get it up front. You get it in
Speaker 6: your nose, but you don't get it on your palate
Speaker 6: until later down the road.
Speaker 4: Delicious. That's so good.
Speaker 6: It actually leaves a little bit of a sweetness on
Speaker 6: your palate as well, in the back of your tongue.
Speaker 4: Super good.
Speaker 5: If you've never been able to... I would give this
Speaker 5: to any listener right now. Here's a challenge. If you've
Speaker 5: never been able to enjoy a spirit neat, let forward
Speaker 5: slash be your introduction to sipping liquor neat.
Speaker 4: Because it is so drinkable. It's so easy.
Speaker 5: You're going to pick up on a range of flavors
Speaker 5: that only blended whiskey can give you.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 5: Once a week, I always come out here and I'm
Speaker 5: way too over the top in love with this company, but...
Speaker 5: It's all true. These are true feelings.
Speaker 4: So good. That's delicious. Got some hay in there, a
Speaker 4: little bit of apple as well. I agree with that. Yeah, man,
Speaker 4: that's great. Thanks, Deb. Very nice. Put the bottle up again, Deb?
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty cool.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look at that bottle right there. That's killer. It's
Speaker 4: got the Wendigo on it. Yeah, man. Dude's got a loincloth, too.
Speaker 3: Check it.
Speaker 4: No, that's a Wendigo. Okay, my bad.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 6: Very good stuff. It's the cryptid Wendigo. Wendigo, Wendigo, Wendigo.
Speaker 6: And it's got a deer head on a skeleton. That's
Speaker 6: kind of crazy. Yeah, man, this is great.
Speaker 2: Website is drink forward slash dot com. You find them
Speaker 2: on Instagram at drink forward slash.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And they have bottles of this. Sometimes we'll get some
Speaker 6: we'll get the taste and it'll they'll have none left
Speaker 6: because they would have made it. I don't know how
Speaker 6: many bottles they have left, but somebody just texted and
Speaker 6: said they got one. of one of the ones we
Speaker 6: offered earlier this year as a gift. And that's a
Speaker 6: really cool thing to do, right? Because these bottles are
Speaker 6: kind of affordable, I think mostly in the $ 70 to
Speaker 6: $ 80 range.
Speaker 5: Well, they're affordable now because I fully predict that Forward
Speaker 5: Slash is going to catch mainstream in the next five years.
Speaker 5: But enjoy it now. I really, really believe in those
Speaker 5: two guys. Are you part of the IPO? Are you
Speaker 5: buying stock? No, I just think Tim and Michael have
Speaker 5: the number one ingredient when it comes to this sort
Speaker 5: of work, which is passion and love.
Speaker 2: Them, right?
Speaker 4: Exactly, 100%.
Speaker 6: I believe in them just as much as I do
Speaker 6: their products. I will tell you guys during the break,
Speaker 6: do yourself a favor. Pour a tiny bit of that
Speaker 6: in the glass and put a drop of water in
Speaker 6: there and taste it.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 6: A little bit of tiny bit of water in there
Speaker 6: and taste that. Let it dance a little bit. Dude,
Speaker 6: I'm telling you, it takes that. It takes that sting
Speaker 6: of the alcohol level off of the very front, but
Speaker 6: you still get all the flavor.
Speaker 4: You'll love that.
Speaker 3: Done.
Speaker 6: Drink forward slash.com. Learn more about their Halloween stuff. Like
Speaker 6: Ross said, he's going to be hosting and judging their
Speaker 6: Halloween party for their big Halloween costume contest.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 4: It's all happening there. And it's the forward slasher time
Speaker 4: of year. So get over there.
Speaker 6: It's forward slash. Drink forward slash.com. Back in a sec
Speaker 6: with more of the Jim Colbert show and a fresh keyword.