WhiskyCast

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Meet "The Gatekeeper of the Grains" (WhiskyCast Episode 673: December 24, 2017) Dec 24, 2017

Show notes

Distilleries need tons of grain to make their whiskies, and the responsibility for making sure that grain meets quality control standards falls on "The Gatekeeper." Almost every distillery has someone responsible for checking loads of grain as they arrive for moisture levels, mold, and other things that might otherwise slip through the cracks and not be caught until a whisky is already in the barrel. Kristy Fregonese is "The Gatekeeper" at Corby's Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor, Ontario, and it's her job to not only monitor the grain as it comes in, but make sure the spent grains are also taken care of. We'll meet "The Gatekeeper" on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, U.S. whisky makers are cheering the tax reform legislation signed into law this week. The new law includes several changes to the tax code that specifically benefit the whisky industry. New distilleries are open now in Kentucky and Scotland, and we'll also have an update on last week's story on a new world record for whisky bars.

New Tricks for an Old Elk (WhiskyCast Episode 672: December 17, 2017) Dec 17, 2017

Show notes

Greg Metze spent years making whisky near the banks of the Ohio River, but he never really got the recognition he deserved because his distillery was on the northern side of the river in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. After 38 years at what started out as the Seagram's distillery, then became LDI and finally MGP, Greg retired last year intending to focus on consulting work. Curt and Nancy Richardson first met Greg several years ago when he created a custom Bourbon mashbill for the whiskey brand they were developing in Colorado, and after a few months of consulting, they persuaded him to come out of retirement and become their master distiller. Now, Greg's signature is on the front of every bottle of their new Old Elk Bourbon. We'll talk with Greg Metze about his new job - and his old one - on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the owners of Jose Cuervo Tequila are expanding their whiskey portfolio with a $205 million dollar deal for the Pendleton Whisky brand, while Diageo is changing its tune about opening a visitors center at its new Bulleit Distillery in Kentucky. There's also a new world record holder for the bar with the largest whisky selection - but is it really a world record? The answer might just surprise you...

Women in Whiskey, Sisters in Suds (WhiskyCast Episode 671: December 10, 2017) Dec 10, 2017

Show notes

This week, the New York Times marked the anniversary of the end of Prohibition with a special event at one of America's few women-owned distilleries, Republic Restoratives in Washington, DC. "Women in Whiskey, Sisters in Suds" featured a discussion of the role women play in distilling and brewing - both today and in history. We'll talk with Republic Restoratives co-founder Rachel Gardner and bring you the discussion on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the tentative Brexit deal between Great Britain and the European Union is being welcomed by Ireland's distillers and brewers on both sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Brown-Forman's stock price jumped after a positive quarterly earnings report, and Pernod Ricard plans to start exporting whiskies made by its unit in India. We'll also look at a new English single malt whisky and compare two rye whiskies with port wine influences in this week's tasting notes.

Snowflakes in the Forecast ... and Whiskey Lovers in Line (WhiskyCast Episode 670: December 3, 2017) Dec 04, 2017

Show notes

Colorado's ski resorts wish they had lift lines as long as the one that stretched down Kalamath Street in Denver Saturday morning, when hundreds of whiskey lovers lined up for the annual release of Stranahan's Snowflake single malt whiskey. The line actually started on Wednesday morning when three people arrived from Wisconsin to claim "first in line" honors - beating out the longtime "Strana-Fan" who traditionally claims that spot. We'll have all of the fun from Denver on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, another malt whisky distillery has opened in Scotland, and Glen Wyvis may well be the first distillery to open after a successful crowdfunding campaign. The controversial tax reform bill approved by the U.S. Senate this weekend includes tax breaks for distillers, and a new audit suggests Australia's Nant Distillery may have been insolvent for more than two years while the founders were selling casks of spirit to investors. We'll have those stories, along with the tale of a bourbon-slurping opossum, on this week's WhiskyCast!

Wick's Whisky Wizard: Pulteney's Malcolm Waring (WhiskyCast Episode 669: November 26, 2017) Nov 26, 2017

Show notes

Pulteney Distillery manager Malcolm Waring wasn't born in Wick, Scotland, but there's no place he'd rather be three decades after getting his first job at what was then the northernmost distillery on Scotland's mainland. There's plenty of rain, plenty of wind, and fortunately for Malcolm...plenty of whisky to keep track of at the distillery. He leaves Wick a few times a year to meet with whisky lovers around the world, and we caught up with him last week during a brief trip to New Brunswick for a chat and a dram of Old Pulteney. Our conversation's coming up on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Glasgow's newest distillery is on the banks of the River Clyde, and Clydeside Distillery has opened its doors to the public. Diageo is ending its Hilhaven Lodge Whiskey partnership with Hollywood producer Brett Ratner over sexual misconduct allegations, while taking former United Spirits chairman Vijay Mallya to court in London to recover $181 million. Country music's John Rich is launching the Redneck Riviera whiskey label with Portland's Eastside Distilling, and in this week's tasting notes, we'll look at a couple of whiskies featured in new Scotch Whisky Advent Calendars for the holidays.

A Spirited Time in New Brunswick (WhiskyCast Episode 668: November 19, 2017) Nov 19, 2017

Show notes

This time around, we're on location at the New Brunswick Spirits Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick...and if you think we get around a lot, spare some sympathy for Distell's Andy Watts. He spent 38 hours traveling to Fredericton from his base in South Africa, where he oversees production and quality control for Distell's whisky distilleries in South Africa and Scotland. Earlier this year, Andy stepped aside from his longtime role as distillery manager for Distell's James Sedgwick Distillery to take up his new position...and spend a lot more time traveling around the world. We'll catch up with him on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, police in Paris are trying to find the burglars who stole nearly $800,000 in rare whiskies during a break-in at La Maison du Whisky. Scotch Whisky producers lost their 5-year-long legal battle to stop the Scottish government from implementing minimum pricing for alcohol sales, and the government in Edinburgh has given the backers of a new malt distillery in Inverclyde more than a million dollars in grant funding. We'll also have details on a couple of rare Canadian whiskies that have some Canadians hip-checking each other in the aisles at retailers, along with the latest Irish Oak-finished whiskey from Midleton Distillery and much, much more...on this special episode from New Brunswick!

12 Years of Whisky Podcasts...and We're Still Here! (WhiskyCast Episode 667: November 12, 2017) Nov 12, 2017

Show notes

The very first episode of WhiskyCast was on November 12, 2005, and twelve years later, we've been around long enough to have an age statement! Back on that first episode, the idea that someone would invest $150 million to build a new Bourbon distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky probably would have been good for a few laughs, since the Bourbon boom was in its infancy. Now, that $150 million dollar distillery project isn't just a reality, but the third new distillery to be built in Bardstown. Stoli Group broke ground this week on its new Kentucky Owl Park in Bardstown, less than a year after buying the boutique Bourbon brand from Dixon Dedman. His great-great grandfather started making Kentucky Owl in 1879, and Prohibition killed the brand for nearly a century before Dixon Dedman revived it in 2014. Dedman joined Stoli Group as its master blender as part of the deal, and he'll share his family's story with us on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Dedman's new distillery is part of a much larger project that will reshape Bardstown's future, while part of Lexington's distilling past is about to come back to life. We'll also look at the week's new whiskies and taste one of the rarest single malts around to celebrate 12 years of WhiskyCast!

The Tale of "Uncle Nearest" and a Whiskey Legacy (WhiskyCast Episode 666: November 5, 2017) Nov 06, 2017

Show notes

In 2015, Brown-Forman acknowledged what had been an open secret around Lynchburg, Tennessee for generations - that Jack Daniel's distilling mentor was Nathan "Nearest" Green, a slave on the farm owned by Dan Coll until the end of the Civil War. After the war ended, Jack Daniel hired the newly-freed Nathan Green to be the head distiller at his new distillery in Lynchburg. Green's sons and grandsons worked for Jack Daniel later on, and even after 150 years, the distillery has always had at least one of Green's descendants working there. Fawn Weaver was fascinated by the 2015 New York Times story on the relationship between the Greens and Jack Daniel's, and is now devoting her life to researching that history and cementing Nearest Green's role in American history with, among many other things, a Tennessee whiskey that bears his name. We'll discuss the story of America's first African-American master distiller on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Scotch Whisky exports rose during the first half of 2017, but the statistics show some areas for concern. U.S. craft distilling is now a $3 billion annual business and growing, and a Swiss hotel has given a Chinese tourist a full refund after the $10,000 dram of whisky he bought there in August turned out to be a fake.

Ten Years of Making Whiskey at Mount Vernon (WhiskyCast Episode 665: October 29, 2017) Oct 29, 2017

Show notes

Distillers from around the United States gathered at Virginia's Mount Vernon this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the restoration of George Washington's Distillery at his historic estate, and of course, they celebrated by making some whiskey. The restored distillery has been producing rye whiskey using Washington's original recipe to raise money for Mount Vernon's educational programs, including those on the slaves who worked in the distillery from 1797 until shortly after Washington's death in 1799. We'll look at the past ten years of distilling at Mount Vernon and Washington's legacy on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Buffalo Trace and the Van Winkle family have decided to skip a year...for one of the prized Van Winkle rye whiskies. Tullamore D.E.W. has added a new set of grain whiskey stills at its distillery in Ireland, and Beam has blended American and Canadian rye whiskies together again...this time for the new Basil Hayden's Dark Rye. We'll look at some travel tips for Bourbon Country and taste four Irish whiskeys for this week's tasting notes, too.

Babysitting the Whisky Barrels (WhiskyCast Episode 664: October 22, 2017) Oct 22, 2017

Show notes

Managing a whisky warehouse is sort of like running a day care center...but a lot quieter. Corby's Donald Campbell is responsible for 1.3 million barrels of maturing whisky at the Hiram Walker Distillery's warehouse campus outside Windsor, Ontario. Just like the kids at a day care center, each of those whisky barrels is developing each day - and some tend to spring a leak every once in a while, too...just like the kids at a day care center. We'll visit the warehouses this week with Donald Campbell and Hiram Walker Master Blender Dr. Don Livermore on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Sazerac is expanding its global presence with a minority stake in India's John Distilleries, but is getting some pushback on its proposed plans for a second Tennessee distillery. New York distillers have joined forces to create the Empire Rye category, and we'll get the details from Christopher Williams of Coppersea Distilling. This year's Irish Whiskey Awards have been announced, and we'll have the results...along with this week's tasting notes and much more!

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