Whisky Buzz

Nicolas Villalon, previous guest on the show (Episode 40 and Episode 80), returns in his new role as National Brand Ambassador for the US. We catch-up on all his time spent traveling, and drink through The Macallan Edition Series (all three that are currently out). The Edition Series comes in at under $100 (US), and has a proof north of 48%, and made in collaboration with artists and true crafts p...

Crown Royal’s Brand Ambassador, Stephen Wilson, and Master Blender, Mark Balkenende, come by the podcast to speak about Crown Royal past, present, and future. Mark and Jamie finally tackle Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, and hear the story behind the craze when the whisky was named the best whisky in the world. (We do apologize for the sound issues, they don’t last beyond six minutes)

Davin de Kergommeaux joins Mark and Jamie to talk about Canadian whisky, his book, and repeatedly showing Mark how he’s wrong all the time. We cover the best whisky in the world, the Northern Border Collection, Canadian Club 40 Year Old, and Collingwood Double Wood!

Glenfiddich is the best selling single malt in the world, but hasn’t been resting. Their experimental series challenges the whisky consumer, and seeks out new markets. Beth Havers, Glenfiddich Brand Ambassador for Canada, returns to the podcast to discuss the experimental series.

Cole Miller, founder of Twelve Barrels, is featured on Dragon’s Den (Canada’s version of Shark Tank) in hopes of getting investment dollars for his startup. Hear the behind-the-scenes from the show that aired. Also, listen to Cole’s more interested behind-the-scenes life of making whisky which involves lots of experimentation. Mark and Jamie, of course, taste many of the experiments!

Reddit has a community of over 50,000 people that love whisky. Mark and Jamie are clueless. TOModera is a long time reddit user that has over 1000 whisky reviews posted primarily on Reddit. He talks about reddit, whisky reviews, and some of the great stories behind his favourite whiskies.

We compare Canada’s Gooderham Centennial Whisky against J.P. Wiser’s Canada’s One-Fifty Whisky with Spencer Gooderham. Spencer is the Brand Ambassador for Corby’s line of Canadian whisky (J.P. Wiser’s, Lot No 40, Gooderham & Worts, and many others). We talk about the Canadian whisky story, the Gooderham family, and compare the J.P. Wiser’s One-Fifty with the Gooderham Centennial Release!

This week Mark and Jamie are joined by Mal Spence, the Global Brand Ambassador for Black Bottled Blended. We talk about Glasgow, Mal Spence’s long career as a bartender, and the history of Black Bottled Blended.

Castle & Key Distillery is located on the historic Old Taylor Distillery site. The podcast is joined by Castle & Key’s Master Distillery, Marianne Barnes. We discuss mash-bills, Colonel E.H. Taylor, history, searching for ancient yeast, and the incredibly Old Taylor property.

Mark brings the podcast on the road to Kentucky, where he interviews Freddie Johnson in an old warehouse on the Buffalo Trace property. Freddie is the third generation of his family to work on these grounds, and he talks to his family’s history. Also, ghosts, Pappy, and the Bourbon Pompeii. You can visit Freddie when on tour at the Buffalo Trace Distillery! Just be sure to book the tour in advance...

A shortened podcast this week as Mark previews his trip to Kentucky, the episodes coming up, and Elijah Craig Small Batch vs the discounted 12 Year Old Age statement Elijah Craig.

Eric Burke of bourbonguy.com comes on the podcast to discuss the results of the March Madness Bourbon Tournament, a tournament dedicated to find the best affordable bourbon. Learn which ones were elevated to the Fancy-Shelf!

Raj Peter Bhakta’s journey included being on season 2 of The Apprentice, losing the 2006 congressional bid in the 13th congressional district of Pennsylvania, and buying a 500-acre milk farm in Vermont. It was the purchase of the farm, and his love for whisky, that started him on a path of WhistlePig Distillery. Mark and Jamie ask Raj about the distillery, his sugar shack, and WhistlePig’s newest...

Mark and Jamie discuss their origin stories on how they got into whisky. Jamie claims to not need research, but that proves wrong. Mark keeps talking about wanting to have the mutant healing factor super power. We mention whisky.

Whisky Brand Ambassadors carry the heart and passion of the distillery out to their local scene. This week Jamie Johnson, of The Balvenie Distillery, talks about her experience of going to Scotland and becoming a brand ambassador for the distillery. We also mention green beer, boy bands, and tips for St. Patrick’s Day!

Mark and Jamie discuss recent whisky news including Pappy Van Winkle coming back with its oldest whisky yet, the continued rise of whisky sales, and Jamie finally quotes a study!

It’s all about Canadian whisky. Mark and Jamie are joined by author of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Export and Head Judge of the Canadian Whisky awards, Davin de Kergommeaux. We get inside whisky judging, the winners, and debate batches!

This week we’re joined by Peter of @newbourbondrink. Peter is a whisky blogger and collector. As an example, he has 30 different Buffalo Trace Antique Collections. Peter shares his tips on finding these rare rare whiskies. Incidentally, Peter brings samples of his favourite 5 whiskies of 2016 and plus some of the surprise whiskies he disliked.

We are joined this week by Conor Timmons, Brand Ambassador for Jameson! We explore the new Jameson whiskeys focused on the craft of making whisky. We also discuss St. Patrick’s Day, green beer, and shots (and how to avoid them!)

Mark and Jamie wouldn’t be podcasting without Mark Gillespie of the WhiskyCast. Mark Gillespie joins Mark and Jamie to talk about how he started in podcasting, how the whisky enthusiast community has changed over the years, social media, and where he sees whisky going in 2017.

In our annual holiday podcast, Mark and Jamie celebrate St. Tibb’s and air grievances in honour of Festivus! Booker’s Bourbon price increase gets “mentioned” but more importantly, Jamie shares some great whisky news!

Marcio Ramos, Brand Ambassador for Bowmore and Laphroaig, comes to the Whisky Topic to share rare whiskies from both distilleries. We offer tricks and tips to how to get these rare whiskies at whisky trade shows and events!

Nicolas Villalon from Edrington comes over to offer Mark and Jamie some rum, special bottling of blended whisky (Black Grouse, Alpha Grouse release), and we have some Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition.

This week, Jamie and Mark interview a distillery from Kentucky and one from Ontario to compare how regulation and taxation affects the whisky they make. Andrew Buchanan is of Hearetfield & Co from Paris, Kentucky, and Michael Hook is from The Last Straw Distillery in Vaughan, Ontario. We discuss how Bill 70 being proposed in Ontario will affect Ontario distilleries.

Jamie and Mark interview Matt Jones, the Canadian brand ambassador for Beam Suntory, specifically focused on Jim Beam and Canadian Club. We look at the history of no-age statement bourbons, new products coming into the marketplace, and the whisky ambassador lifestyle.