Many seasoned bourbon drinkers know all too well the climate of things, but rarely ever stop to think how newcomers to this hobby view it. This episode takes an outside look in from experimenting with high rye, low rye, and wheated bourbons as well as a look into how our guest views allocated items. Darin Mellor, a spirits enthusiast, has been on the beer and tequila chase in the past and recently got into bourbon. Learn about his journey into the crazy hobby that can be very frustrating at times. Show Notes: What first attracted you to bourbon? Talk about the tequila and beer chase for a bit. Before you started really getting into it, was there anything that made you anxious or nervous? What made you want to know more? How did you start exploring high rye vs low rye vs wheated bourbon? Did you even know these different kind of bourbons existed before you dove in? What made you go with something barrel proof when you first started getting your few bottles? Being new to the scene, what's your take on non-distilling producers? When you go to a store and see a hangtag or sticker that says "Won Double Gold", does that influence your decision? How did you come to find out about Facebook groups or reddit? What was the most surprising thing you saw when you started reading more into bourbon? It took me almost 6 years until I found out about limited edition bourbons. How did you find out? Am I creating the problem or are new bourbon drinkers the problem when it comes to the allocation issue? So talk about your first reactions when you see an acronym like WLW. Are you like what the hell are these guys talking about? Now that you are getting into the bourbon scene, what's the most frustrating part? What advice can you give to seasoned veterans of bourbon when all the new people are coming into the hobby? Are you surprised people are waiting in lines and lotteries for bourbon? Have you found yourself sneaking bottles in the house from your significant other? You can read more about Darin at mempxl and on Instagram at @mempxl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices