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Bourbon and collaborations go hand in hand, marrying America’s native spirit with other spirits, celebrities, and even America’s pastimes. Three Chord Bourbon, a company founded in 2017 by musician Neil Giraldo and whiskey maker Ari Sussman, set out with a vision to combine music and bourbon. In one sense, the brand’s whiskeys are collaborations, typically combining whiskeys from various distilleries for each blend as a result of Three Chord’s library of barrels from multiple distilleries and with a range of experimental finishes underway. And in 2023, Three Chord Bourbon debuted its Backstage Series, a collection of bourbons that “unites the brand with leading musicians in releasing custom signature blends unique to each partnership.” So far, the company has 17 of these blends under their belt, including past releases in collaboration with The Allman Brothers Band, Halestorm, and Black Stone Cherry. Recently, we had the opportunity to go backstage and help guide a band on one of their unique blends.
Dayseeker is an American post-hardcore band from Southern California. Members have changed over the years, but the band’s founder, Rory Rodriguez (lead vocals), and Gino Sgambelluri (lead guitar, backing vocals) have remained consistent since the band's inception in 2012. Ramone Valerio (bass, backing vocals) and Zac Mayfield (drums, percussion) joined later.
Playing at Anthology in our hometown of Rochester, New York, Three Chord Bourbon had arranged for Dayseeker’s custom Backstage Series blend to be done before the show. We met the band and Three Chord Bourbon’s Tony DeYoung, Partner and National Sales Manager, at the venue a few hours before the show.
Three Chord provided four bourbons for the band to work with:
While the band members had varying experience levels with bourbon, it was immediately clear they were interested in bourbon and fascinated by the blending process.
Round one involved tasting through each individual bourbon to dial in what each offered at its core, pinpointing specific flavors and attributes. Since the final blend would be proofed down, the band sampled how adding a few drops of water to each bourbon affected it.
The individual bourbon flavor profiles revealed themselves to be:
Amburana is a bit of a wild card in the mix, and it was the band’s first time tasting an Amburana finished bourbon. It was interesting to see reactions to it. Amburana is a species of tree native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Amburana wood has a tight grain and has been traditionally used to age Cachaca (though most Cachaca is aged in oak), a popular Brazilian spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. Amburana is also used for lumber, and craft brewers took a liking to it before bourbon producers did. Amburana finished bourbons became increasingly popular in 2023. Still, the overall volume of products has remained low as Amburana wood is limited, and the style has been primarily used for single barrel and small quantity releases. The impact of finishing in Amburana casks isn’t subtle; the wood adds a tremendous amount of unique flavor, typically resulting in a polarizing final product.
On to blending!
Based on the initial thoughts of each individual bourbon, we started with the following blend:
The band talked through their thoughts on this. Still too much Amburana…the citrus note was subdued but still more prominent than they liked…maybe the texture could be a little more oily.
We adjusted the percentages, but the resulting blend still wasn’t perfect.
Then we tried something more extreme. We removed the Indiana 6 year bourbon entirely, dialed up the Indiana 7 year bourbon, and dialed down the Tennessee 4 year bourbon and Kentucky 6 year Amburana finished bourbon. Here’s what that looked like:
Strangely, this moved in the opposite direction. The Amburana influence was getting closer to the band’s desired impact point, and it was agreed that it just had to be dialed in right, not completely removed. Most importantly, it was proof that the Tennessee bourbon served as an agreeable primary base, and the citrus note from the Indiana 6 year added some dimension that became apparent when it was removed.
We went back to the original 4-component blending strategy and made further adjustments. Finally, it got dialed in. A sweet, appealing Tennessee bourbon base, hint of citrus, oily texture with savory undertones, and just a whisper of Amburana.
Here’s the final blend:
To be clear, the final blend was decided entirely by the band. We didn’t cast any votes or attempt to steer them in any direction; instead listening to their feedback and suggesting modifications as the blend took shape. DeYoung guided and educated throughout the process. It’s the band’s blend, and it’s dialed in the way they wanted it.
What’s interesting about how the blend took shape was how decisive the band members were about what they liked and what they didn’t. This trait is something I often see with people who regularly drink and enjoy bourbon, but don’t consider themselves technical experts or try to dissect flavors like we do at Breaking Bourbon when writing reviews. For these burgeoning bourbon fans, opinions are just as clear, and oftentimes follow a more binary line of either “I like it” or “I don’t,” which is how the vast majority of consumers will react to any given product.
This puts the band in touch with their audience, and more specifically, the audience for this collaboration release. Dayseeker’s fans who pick up this blend when it becomes available will likely be casual bourbon drinkers with just a few die-hards among them. For many, it will be their first experience with an Amburana finish, even though the blend contains “just a whisper” of Amburana, it’s still noticeable. The concept of building a bourbon that’s greater than the sum of its parts also rings true here, but requires an active curiosity among consumers to recognize as they venture deeper into the world of bourbon.
Three Chord Bourbon’s Backstage Series is a fun, hands-on collaboration concept. It has all the right ingredients to activate a deeper interest in the spirit among curious music fans, and at the same time, introduce existing bourbon drinkers to up-and-coming bands.
Dayseeker’s blend is now available alongside their new album, Creature in the Black Night. The bottle will likely feature the band’s album artwork on the label. It will be proofed to 100, and retails for $60 per bottle.
Three Chord released Volume 2 of their Backstage Series in 2025 that included blends from or inspired by Guitar Shorty, Cordell Jackson, The Darts, and Neil Giraldo and bandmate, Rick Derringer, and have more planned for 2026.
