Stay ConnectedOff Profile is a whiskey and spirits podcast about the people, ideas, and stories behind what we drink.
Maks and John sit down with distillers, blenders, brand owners, and other people shaping the industry for conversations about whiskey, Scotch, rum, brandy, agave, production, blending, sourcing, transparency, and everything in between.
Sometimes technical, sometimes completely off the rails, always centered around a good pour and a good conversation.
A highly spirited conversation.
What makes Benromach one of Speyside's most interesting distilleries? It starts with the people behind the whisky.During my time as a Benromach Champion, I sat down with Julie Christie, Murdo Mackenzie, Kevin Alston, Shawnee Kitching, Samuel Rasey, and Brian Williams to hear their stories and learn what goes into running a traditional Scotch whisky distillery.From making whisky by hand and experimenting with casks to marketing, visitor experiences, and the unexpected paths that brought them into the industry, we get to know the people keeping Speyside's lost smoke alive.Fellow Benromach Champion Rye Sweeney joins me for conversations with Julie, Murdo, and Kevin.
We sat down with Jon Hoffmann, aka Jon and the Juice, to talk about bourbon hunting, building a whiskey community in Chicago, barrel picks, and what goes into being a whiskey content creator.
We also get into craft distilleries, whiskey hype, brand controversies, and a few ridiculous bourbon hunting stories along the way.
Paul Hletko, founder of FEW Spirits, joins us to talk about building a craft whiskey distillery in Illinois, the family history that inspired him, and the challenges of competing with the industry's biggest players.
We get into his approach to making whiskey, some wild stories from the early days of FEW, collaborations with bands like The Flaming Lips, his thoughts on the current whiskey market, and what might be next for him.
We sit down with Kevin Carlson, the creator behind Bourbon Notes, to talk about the world of whiskey content, influencer marketing, vintage bourbon, and barrel picking. We get into Wild Turkey, Willett, the art of blending, questionable whiskey finishes, and some controversial opinions about where the bourbon industry is headed.
We sit down with TJ Gamble, better known as Brewzle, to talk bourbon hunting, the challenges facing craft distilleries, barrel picks, and whether whiskey nerds care more about what's on the label than what's in the glass. Plus some blind tastings, questionable guesses, and plenty of shit-talking.
Seth Dettling joins us to talk about the philosophy behind Dettling 1867, from better ingredients and obsessive barrel tracking to aging whiskey in Alabama heat. We get into experimental mash bills, pushing oak extraction to the limit, why he’s skeptical of finishing great bourbon, and the years of trial, error, and “redneck engineering” behind making whiskey his own way.
We sat down with Ari Klafter at Thornton Distillery to talk about what it actually takes to make whiskey worth waiting for.
Ari walks us through Thornton's American single malt program, from choosing specialty malts and distilling off-grain to harvesting Illinois peat along the Mississippi River. We get into whiskey terroir, why grain flavor deserves more attention, whether consumers actually support the craft producers they claim to love, and how barrel selection can completely change a spirit.
We also explore Thornton's evolving solera cask, upcoming experiments with unusual barrels and a potential cigar blend.
And because this is Off Profile, we somehow end up discussing a Prohibition-era gun discovered in the distillery, a questionable World Cup analogy, and what happens when you record a podcast underneath a dripping well.
A highly spirited conversation about whiskey, patience, experimentation, and a little bit of chaos.
What goes into making great whiskey, and what happens when an experiment goes completely wrong?
We sit down with Brett Connors, the Whiskey Wizard of Castle & Key Distillery, to talk about his journey from giving distillery tours to blending whiskey and developing some of the distillery's most interesting releases.
We get into the reality of making whiskey, from throwing away their earliest distillate to experimenting with unusual finishing casks, including a rye that went from tasting like Robitussin to Cherry Cola.
Brett also shares the story behind Roots of Ruin Gin, why Castle & Key's unique warehouses produce such different flavor profiles, and how blending for other brands helped shape his approach to making whiskey.
We cover:
How Brett got started at Castle & Key and became a blender
Why a distillery's first barrel isn't necessarily its best
The experiments behind Castle & Key's finished whiskeys
How Roots of Ruin Gin was created
Why warehouse conditions can completely change a whiskey
The challenges of creating whiskey that's both delicious and commercially viable
Why Brett believes Castle & Key's rye is its best whiskey
A conversation about experimentation, learning from failures, and the work that goes into making the spirits we love.
Off Profile: A Highly Spirited Conversation.
#OffProfile #CastleAndKey #BrettConnors #Whiskey #Bourbon
Angela D’Orazio has spent most of her career exploring what happens when you push whisky a little further.
Before becoming Master Blender at Compass Box, Angela spent nearly two decades helping build Mackmyra and working in an environment that gave her enormous freedom to experiment. That included everything from green tea to an AI-assisted whisky project with Microsoft.
We talk about what it was like leaving that world for Scotch, why she initially felt like an imposter at Compass Box, and what she wants to bring to a company already known for challenging convention.
Angela takes us through blending, transparency, Scotch regulations, building flavor profiles years into the future, nearly 50,000 casks moving into a new Compass Box warehouse, and the balance between science, consistency and leaving some mystery in whisky.
We also get into her friendship and work with Nancy Fraley, slow reduction and élevage, introducing bourbon drinkers to Scotch, unusual collaborations, and whether enough data could eventually create an AI version of Angela herself.
Or, as we eventually decided to call her: Darth Angela.
Drew Black built Circle City Whiskey from the perspective of a whiskey enthusiast first.
Before Circle City, Drew ran a large Indianapolis whiskey club focused on barrel selections. That eventually led to private-label releases, a launch that briefly outsold Tito's at one of Indiana's largest liquor chains, and ultimately the idea of bringing the Scotch independent bottler model to American whiskey.
We talk about why sourcing became a dirty word in American whiskey, why Drew believes great whiskey at a fair price matters more than where the still is located, and how Circle City approaches transparency without inventing a heritage story.
Drew also breaks down how he learned to blend, the months-long process behind the Robusto Blend, his 50/50 Club concept, why he loves working with MGP, how too much information can sometimes work against consumers, and the strange role mystery and lore play in whiskey.
We finish with Drew's long-term vision for Circle City, including why he has zero intention of distilling and why he's building the company specifically for whiskey nerds rather than casual drinkers.
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