WhiskyCast

This time around, we're blasting off with the crew of the USS Starward! OK, we're talking with David Vitale, the founder of Australia's Starward Distillery, and his whiskies have a certain Space Age look to them. Vitale founded his distillery in a former Quantas hangar at Melbourne's airport, so the flight analogy's not that far off, either. You'll hear that conversation during WhiskyCast In-Depth...

Many whisky lovers consider the "water of life" to be a regular part of their lives, but there's no arguing that whiskies are becoming as much of a luxury item as fine watches, artwork, wines, and other rarities. That's the world James Espey and Tom Jago entered with their final act in the whisky business eleven years ago when they formed The Last Drop Distillers after collaborating on too many ic...

Kentucky's Four Roses Bourbon is marking its 130th anniversary this year, and while Al Young hasn't been there the whole time...he comes closer than just about anyone else. Last year, he celebrated his 50th anniversary with Four Roses dating well back to the brand's days under Seagram's ownership, and he's one of only three people to have a Four Roses bottling named for him. In fact, Four Roses fa...

You might think this would be a great time to be in the Scotch Whisky business, right? This week, the Scotch Whisky Association released a new report showing global exports grew almost 11 percent during the first half of the year on a pace that could break 2017's record year for exports. However, this week also saw yet another failed attempt to resolve the Brexit stalemate between the UK and the E...

This time around, we're in Columbia, South Carolina for The Great American Whiskey Fair. We'll talk with local distillers creating unique whiskies with local grains, and we'll also look at a global issue: the potential impact of climate change on the whisky industry. Researchers have been looking at the impact of global warming on barley production for beer, but they also see a serious problem for...

Old Forester released its final edition in the Whiskey Row series of limited-edition Bourbons this week, and the 1910 Old Fine Whiskey honors the brand's return to its historical home. Brown-Forman's $45 million Old Forester Distillery opened in June on Main Street in downtown Louisville on the same site where the company was located from 1882 until Prohibition began in 1919. We toured the distill...

Louisville's Butchertown got its name from the stockyards and meat processing plants that dominated the neighborhood a century or more ago. Today, it's a thriving, trendy neighborhood that's home to the Butchertown Grocery. Chef Bobby Benjamin opened the restaurant and Lola, its upstairs cocktail lounge, with an eye to great cooking - and great whiskey. Not only are there plenty of private barrel...

The largest single distiller of Rye Whiskey isn't in Kentucky, but just along the other side of the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. For nearly 40 years, Larry Ebersold distilled Rye - and other whiskies - in what is now known as the MGP Distillery. Under the Seagram's banner and later LDI, Larry made whiskies that were blended into some of the world's top selling whiskey brands, and today, MG...

  Let's be honest for a moment. Look around the crowd at most whisky events, and if you're being honest with yourself, you'll notice that there's usually a pretty obvious lack of diversity in the room. Samara Rivers is trying to change that with the Black Bourbon Society, a group she created two years ago to bring African-American whisky lovers together through regional tastings and an active soci...

  In 2016, Holly Seidewand started a journey that would change her life by traveling to Scotland to learn more about whisky. That journey later took her to Japan and Australia, and it continues today - only as a whisky professional. Earlier this year, she joined Bacardi as the US brand ambassador for the John Dewar & Sons range of single malts from Scotland. She'll share her journey with us on Whi...

Severe weather forced Louisville's annual Bourbon & Beyond music, food, and whiskey festival to end a day earlier than planned, but the heavy rains didn't dampen spirits on Saturday. We'll have highlights from the festival and talk with one of the newest members of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame on WhiskyCast In-Depth. Freddie Johnson is the third generation of his family to work at what's now...

In 1972, the gates were locked for what many thought would be the final time at Kentucky's historic Old Taylor Distillery near Frankfort. Wednesday, those gates opened to the public for the first time in nearly half a century at what is now Castle & Key Distillery following a massive four-year-long restoration project to reclaim the distillery and its warehouses, sunken gardens, springhouse, and m...

Bourbon & Beyond gets underway this Friday night in Louisville with a charity Bourbon auction to benefit the Speed Art Museum. The whiskies going up for bids include one of the original Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old Bourbons - the 10th one ever filled - along with other historic whiskies and one-of-a-kind whiskey experiences. We'll talk with Speed Art Museum director Stephen Reily about the auction...

Portland's Westward American Single Malt from House Spirits is the latest prize in the spree of acquisitions and investments by major spirits brands in emerging brands. House Spirits announced Wednesday that Diageo's in-house venture capital unit, Distill Ventures, has acquired a minority stake in Westward as its first public investment in a North American spirits brand. Distill Ventures already h...

Like most romances, Wyoming Whiskey and Edrington had plenty of potential partners trolling around. Neither one needed a partner, until they found each other and formed what Edrington Americas CEO Chris Spalding calls "a match made in Heaven." The strategic partnership announced this week will see Edrington take on sales, distribution, and marketing for Wyoming Whiskey. The distillery's founders w...

Virginia's distilling history dates back to at least 1620, and while many whiskey lovers know about George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon, it's just one of the state's 70 distilleries making everything from rum and vodka to single malt whiskies. September is Virginia Spirits Month, and we'll visit some of those distilleries and find out more about what's shaping up to be a model partnersh...

If Fred Minnick had any more balls in the air right now, the circus would be calling him with a job offer as a juggler. He's launching the new Bourbon+ Magazine as its founding editor-in-chief, curating the Bourbon events for next month's Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Louisville, and his book publisher has just commissioned a second edition of his award-winning book "Bourbon Curious." If that's n...

It's been a hot, dry summer in Scotland, and Euan Mitchell isn't complaining a bit. The managing director of Isle of Arran Distillers is overseeing construction of a second distillery at Lagg on the island's southern coast, and the weather is allowing work to be completed right on schedule. Lagg's stills are scheduled to arrive on the island this week, and plans are still in place for the distille...

This week, we'll visit House Spirits Distillery - part of Portland's "Distillery Row" along the eastern banks of the Willamette River. House Spirits is the home of Westward American Single Malt Whiskey, and head distiller Miles Munroe will take us on a tour of the distillery during WhiskyCast In-Depth. We'll also talk with Jeneen Bell, the president of Portland's 300-member Women Who Whiskey chapt...

Jeff Arnett became the Master Distiller for Jack Daniel's in 2008, joining a small club of distillers that began with Jack Daniel and Nathan "Nearest" Green in 1866. In his first decade on the job, he's created more new Jack Daniel's whiskies than all of his predecessors combined, while also traveling the world as the brand's chief ambassador. We'll talk with Jeff Arnett about that decade and his...

Construction workers are racing the clock to complete work at Louisville's Frazier History Museum by the end of this month, when the new "Spirit of Kentucky" Bourbon history exhibit and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Welcome Center are scheduled to open. Both represent a multi-million dollar investment in Bourbon tourism on Louisville's Whiskey Row, and we'll take a "hard hat" tour with the Frazier's...

Global trade has helped the whisky industry expand massively over the last two decades. With the ongoing trade dispute between the US and its key trading partners threatening that growth, the world's nine major whisky trade associations held their first-ever "W9 Summit" this week in Louisville. WhiskyCast was in Louisville for the summit, and we'll have complete coverage on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In...

This time around, we're in New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, the annual gathering of bartenders and drinks industry leaders for a week of education and entertainment. Think of this year's version as Tales 2.0, though. There's a completely new management team in place following some troubled times for the conference in the past 18 months, and the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation has been forme...

The James E. Pepper Distillery dominated the western edge of downtown Lexington, Kentucky for decades until it closed in 1958, and what was at one time the country's largest Bourbon distillery became a rundown eyesore. Several years ago, entrepreneurs bought several of the distillery's buildings and started building bars, a brewery, galleries and other businesses in the "Distillery District." Last...

Heaven Hill has unveiled the 2018 edition of Parker's Heritage Collection whiskey. It's a Bourbon finished in Orange Curaçao liqueur barrels, and that has some purists raising an eyebrow. Heaven Hill Master Distiller Denny Potter joins us on WhiskyCast In-Depth to explain - and defend the process that went into creating this year's release as a chance to try something different...the way Parker Be...