Here at Thirty-One Whiskey, we occasionally like to take a break from reviewing whiskey and other spirits… by reviewing products that are spirit adjacent. I’m personally a big fan of my Aged & Ore products, so with Father’s Day fast approaching I figured I’d share my love of these products with our readers. Now, you can just take my word for it that they make great gifts (for the dads in your life, or just for yourself), or you can read on for my detailed review.
History
Aged & Ore is a Chicago, IL based company. It was founded by Kegan McDaniel and Roberto Meza, and the two of them still make up the entire company. For the first six years, McDaniel and Meza ran Aged & Ore in addition to their 9-5 jobs, but a few months ago they were able to make the shift to a dedicated full-time space for the company.
Their focus is to simply create products that they wanted for themselves. In fact, their product creation process often is understanding the products that do not exist but would make a difference for them personally. This approach brings a lot of personal passion to the company and products.
The initial products were designed to improve taking your whiskey on the go and have recently expanded to improving the at-home experience. I’ve been using their products for several years (not sponsored, just a fan) and have never looked back.
Neat Traveler
The Neat Traveler was my first Aged & Ore product. I am a big fan of a train beer when taking the Chicago Metra to visit the in-laws. My wife will sometimes even bring a bottle of wine and a glass. For a long time, I was tempted to bring a glass and a bottle of bourbon, but schlepping an entire bottle of whiskey felt a little too “extra”… and thankfully, the Neat Traveler solved that conundrum for me.
The Neat Traveler is a glass and a 3oz glass bottle that packs together in a compact (4” x 4” x 5”) padded case. That size is perfect for taking in a carry-on for your next flight, as its about the volume of a double pour of whiskey and also the maximum size allowed through a TSA checkpoint. The padded case holds the glass snug, while the Flight Bottle fits perfectly in the glass. The lid has a lip to hold both the bottle and glass tight as it all zips together.
I’ll talk more about the Flight Bottle in the next section, but I would like to take a second to praise the quality of the glass that is part of the Neat Traveler. The glass is perfect for about an ounce and a half neat pour of whiskey. It has a wide base, which will stay stable on the Metra bench across from me (it does not fit in the cup holders, however) or being held for the ride. The flared lip creates a good tasting experience and narrowed opening enables a rich nose.
In short: this is easy to carry with you, packs together securely, and can even be clipped to your bag as your run to catch your train.
The Neat Traveler is available in 4 colors (Grey, Red, Blue, Wheat) on AgedAndOre.com for $44.00.
Bottle Flight
The Bottle Flight might be my favorite and most used Aged and Ore product. It’s a set of four 3oz glass bottles, each with a silicone protective sleeve, packaged together in a carrying case.
For me, this is a go-to travel companion – both for road trips and flights. The 3oz bottles are TSA compliant (I’ve never had an issue carrying this on through TSA Pre-Check or in my checked bag, but please verify with TSA.gov and don’t just listen to some random whiskey reviewer), come protected with a silicone sleeve, and have a clear viewing and measurement window. The set comes with a white glass marker, so you can label easily, and each bottle closes tightly with a removable gasket.
Glass is a great medium for transporting spirits as it can be washed clean, and the silicone offsets any concerns about breakability. The only thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes the gasket can hold some lingering aromas – my wife loves a specific jalapeno tequila which tends to linger longer than others, so we now have one bottle that is now dedicated to it.
The case holds all four bottles snugly (sometimes almost too snugly), and at 9” x 5” x 2.5” it doesn’t take up too much space in your luggage.
I’ve taken this with me to family events along with my Neat Traveler — the combination of the two is perfect. I also travel with it, because if you’ve been a long-time reader of Thirty-One Whiskey you know that neither Nick nor I pass up an opportunity to try a new spirit on our adventures. The bottle flight allows me to reserve some spirit for a proper review – most recently I used it make a negroni while tasting Hendrick’s Oasium Gin.
The Bottle Flight is available in 5 colors (Grey, Red, Blue, Wheat, Mint) on AgedAndOre.com for $48.00.
If you need to transport a bit more, there is also a XL Bottle Flight available for $68. With the XL each of the 4 bottles can hold 6oz of spirits.
Bottle Caddy
Maybe you are going to a weekend long family reunion and the Bottle Flight or Bottle Flight Xl will not cut it… then the Bottle Caddy is for you. The Bottle Caddy is a bag that has been perfected for carrying bottles. If you’ve ever had to walk home from the local corner store with your bottles clanging around, you know how annoying it can be – and this product solves that perfectly.
The bag is lined with a smooth felt and has a custom EVA base and separators to keep the bottles separated. It’s large enough to accommodate most bottles of whiskey, tequila, gin, wine, or pretty much whatever you can throw at it. (The only exception would be bottles with an extra wide base – Willett Pot Still, I am looking at you.)
I’ve used this bag to take bottles to a friends house for a tasting event, for long camping weekends where you want variety, or just to my local bottle shop as a shopping bag. It’s secured with a zippered top and easy to carry with comfortable hands.
The Bottle Caddy is available in 6 colors (Grey, Black, Olive, Stone, Red, and Sand) on AgedAndOre.com for $58.00.
If you need to carry 8 bottles, you can check out the Bottle Caddy XL. Same concept – twice as big… bring your shoulder game. The Bottle Caddy XL is $98.00.
Overall Rating
I love these products – and am happy to share my love of them with you. If you are on the go and want to up your train beer game, start here.
The guys at Aged & Ore have been turning out high quality products for years. Recently they also released a travel humidor that just happens to fit into the Bottle Flight XL case, which just speaks to the intentional way they’re designing each product. I’m a big fan of this kind of practical ingenuity, and look forward to seeing what they create next.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Perfect gifts for any whiskey drinker on the go.