WhiskyCast

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A Big Bourbon Weekend in Mississippi (WhiskyCast Episode 693: April 29, 2018) Apr 29, 2018

Show notes

Oxford, Mississippi is known for many things, but Bourbon isn't usually the first thing you think of. Chef John Currence and his friends might just convince you otherwise, though. They've turned their annual fundraising weekend for Move On Up Mississippi into a full-blown whiskey weekend, with the first Oxford Bourbon Festival and Auction coming up the weekend of May 18-20. Chef John Currence owns four restaurants in Oxford, and the James Beard Award-winning chef and author counts whiskey among his favorite food groups. He'll join us on WhiskyCast In-Depth to discuss the festival, along with his love for Bourbon - and his disdain for pairing Bourbons with specific foods. We'll also have more details on the latest distillery planned for Islay, along with new whiskies, the week's tasting notes, and explain why you might get a pickle-like note in some Rye whiskies in our new "Behind the Label" segment.

On the Road - And at the Pub in Dublin (WhiskyCast Episode 692: April 26, 2018) Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

This time around, we're on the road in Dublin for the launch of the first cask-strength Jameson Irish Whiskey, the new Jameson Bow Street 18. It's also the first Jameson expression in many years with a direct link to the Jameson family's old distillery on Bow Street in Dublin, since the casks used for Bow Street 18 spent their final year of maturation in the new mini-warehouse at the Jameson Distillery Bow Street visitor experience. We'll have that story in the news, along with late-breaking news on another new distillery planned for Islay. On WhiskyCast In-Depth, we'll talk with Benromach Distillery manager Keith Cruickshank about the Speyside distillery's dual anniversaries this year: Benromach's 120th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of its reopening by Gordon & MacPhail. We'll also have some of your comments, the week's tasting notes, and much more!

Introducing The Pope to Pappy (WhiskyCast Episode 691: April 22, 2018) Apr 22, 2018

Show notes

The Bible says "The Lord works in mysterious ways." As proof, we have the story this week of Father Jim Sichko, a Kentucky-based Catholic priest heading to Rome for an audience at the Vatican with Pope Francis. He admits to not knowing much about Bourbon, but whether you want to call it providence or luck, he was able to get his hands on some of the much-sought-after Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon for the Pope, along with enough whiskey to start a new collection at the Vatican. He'll share his story with us on WhiskyCast In-Depth, and we'll also preview the upcoming Spirit of Speyside Festival. In the news, the world's largest brewer is dipping its toes into the Scotch Whisky business, while construction will begin next month on Edinburgh's first malt whisky distillery in 90 years and Canada's Supreme Court has dealt a legal setback to whisky lovers,. We're also kicking off a new segment this week, as "Behind the Label" looks at things you may have wondered about when it comes to learning more about whisky.

Billy Walker's Back in the Whisky Business with The GlenAllachie (WhiskyCast Episode 690: April 19, 2018) Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

Billy Walker could have walked away from the Scotch Whisky business last year after he and his partners sold the BenRiach, GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh distilleries to Brown-Forman for more than $400 million. However, he decided to jump back in with his "dream team" of industry leaders and buy the Glenallachie distillery from Chivas Brothers, and will launch the distillery's first range of single malts in June. We'll talk with Billy about building that team and giving new life to a long-underrrated distillery on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Anheuser-Busch InBev has acquired Atom Group, the UK-based drinks company that owns Master of Malt, while Diageo has announced plans to invest £150 million to upgrade the visitors centers at 12 of its distilleries in Scotland and create a new "brand home" for Johnnie Walker in Edinburgh. We'll also have details on Gordon & MacPhail's move to consolidate its 12 lines of single malt whiskies into just five starting this month with the Connoisseurs Choice range, and the Spirit of Speyside Festival brings judging for its annual whisky competition to New York for the first time.

Craft Whisky: Optimism and a Reality Check (WhiskyCast Episode 689: April 15, 2018) Apr 15, 2018

Show notes

Every distillery opens as a dream, with the backers hoping to become the next Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, or one of countless other mainstays of the whisky business. During Friday night's American Whiskey Convention in Philadelphia, many startup distilleries showed off their whiskies next to those mainstays. A couple of miles away, James Yoakum was pouring drinks in his tasting room at Cooper River Distillers, days after making the decision to close the distillery after one last Kentucky Derby party May 5th. He'll share some of the lessons he learned over the last four years, and we'll meet some of the distillers still full of optimism - yet tempered with reality - on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, four Kentucky distilleries celebrated milestones this week, while Wild Turkey's partnership with actor Matthew McConaughey has led to a new Bourbon and Diageo has given us a preview of this year's Special Releases single malts...with no Port Ellens or Broras in the mix.

Taking Time Out of the Whisky Bottle (WhiskyCast Episode 688: April 8, 2018) Apr 08, 2018

Show notes

Whisky makers have tried for decades to come up with ways of making young whiskies taste like older ones, but whisky purists will argue that there is no substitute for time in a barrel when it comes to making a quality whisky. O.Z. Tyler created the TerrePURE process, which uses ultrasonic sound waves to break up some of the undesirable byproducts of the distilling process that are left behind after a whisky reaches the barrel. South Carolina-based Terressentia has been using that process on bulk and private-label Bourbons for the last ten years, and revived the old Medley Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky in 2016. Now, the renamed O.Z. Tyler Distillery will release its first Kentucky Bourbon using that process this week, and we'll talk with Terressentia CEO Earl Hewlette on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, it could soon be legal for the first time to have a Kentucky distillery ship whiskies home for visitors. We'll look at the impact of the just-passed House Bill 400 on distillers, tourists, and retailers. The brewing trade war between the United States and China has now expanded to include American-made whiskies, and one of Sweden's largest distilleries is changing its name.

Whisky is Too Important to be Taken Seriously (WhiskyCast Episode 687: April 1, 2018) Apr 01, 2018

Show notes

Scotland's Douglas Laing and Co. is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2018, and for many of those years, the Laing family has taken a light-hearted approach to Scotch Whisky - at least, when it comes to what's on the outside of the bottle. With brands like Big Peat, Scallywag, Timorous Beastie, and the like, Fred Laing has given us many reasons to smile as we pour a dram. Fred has turned over much of the day-to-day operations of the company over to his daughter Cara and son-in-law Chris Leggett, but took the title of Chairman of the Board because "Chief Mischief Maker" wasn't an option. He'll join us on WhiskyCast In-Depth to talk about this year's anniversary releases, the progress of their new distillery in Glasgow, and their newest whisky...the bacon-infused "Big Meat. We'll also have the details on a complete makeover for The Macallan's single malts, a upcoming "crowdsourced" Bourbon from Buffalo Trace, April Fool's fun from Westland, and Dave Broom's future as a film star, along with tasting notes for three Scandinavian single malts and much more!

Wandering the Wonderful World of Whisky (WhiskyCast Episode 686: March 25, 2018) Mar 25, 2018

Show notes

Rachel Barrie is known on Twitter as @TheLadyBlender, and she's just winding up her first year as the master blender for Brown-Forman's BenRiach, GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh distilleries in Scotland. Over the years, she's worked on some of Scotch Whisky's most iconic brands, and joins us to discuss her career and her plans for those distilleries. This week, we're on the road in Cornwall, Ontario at the Wonderful World of Whisky Show to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. Back in 2006, we first met Barry Bernstein and Barry Stein shortly after they left their jobs to form Premium Bottlers and import casks of Scotch Whisky into Canada. That led to their opening Still Waters Distillery in the Toronto suburbs a few years later, and this week, their Stalk & Barrel Single Malt was named the "Best Canadian Single Cask Single Malt" in Whisky Magazine's World Whiskies Awards. We'll talk with "The Barrys" - as they're affectionately known, and hear a tale of one brand ambassador's airport security nightmare that turned into a dream.

Waiting for Waterford's Whiskey (WhiskyCast Episode 685: March 18, 2018) Mar 18, 2018

Show notes

It's St. Patrick's Day weekend, and while we cover Irish Whiskey all year-round, it's worth paying special attention to the fastest-growing segment of the whisky business this week. Waterford Distillery has been quietly laying down more than 2.3 million liters of spirit since it opened at the end of 2015, and just as he did at Bruichladdich, Waterford founder Mark Reynier is challenging many of Irish Whiskey's traditions. We'll catch up with Mark for a progress report and discuss his newest challenge - distilling whiskey from biodynamically-grown barley. We'll also hear about another newcomer to the Irish Whiskey scene, as Sabine Sheehan joins us to share the story behind Lambay Irish Whiskey - a collaboration between Cognac's Camus family and Ireland's Baring family. In the news, Irish investigators are looking for the cause of a fatal accident this week at the Irish Distillers maturation warehouses in Dungourney, and Ireland's prime minister was in Washington trying to persuade President Donald Trump to reconsider punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum imports set to take effect this week in a move that could set off a whisky-focused trade war.

A Whisky Weekend in Waco (WhiskyCast Episode 684: March 11, 2018) Mar 11, 2018

Show notes

This week, we're on the road in Waco, Texas for the inaugural RyeFest at Balcones Distilling, where they're releasing their first-ever Rye whisky after 10 years of making almost every other kind of whisky under the Texas sun. We'll talk with Balcones head distiller Jared Himstedt and taste the new Balcones 100 Proof Rye. On this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth, we'll also meet some distillers from Down Under - Australians who are proving that not all Australian whisky comes from Tasmania. In the news, the stage is set for European Union officials to impose tariffs on Bourbon after the Trump Administration kicked off a potential trade war by imposing punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from EU member nations and other countries. Diageo's distillery in Tullahoma, Tennessee is getting a new name - and a new head distiller, and we'll talk with the founders of the #OurWhisky movement to highlight diversity in the whisky industry.

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