Barrel Room Chronicles

Over the past year, Kerry Moynahan & Philip Dobard have interviewed more than four dozen Spirits of Whisk(e)y—the people who make, blend, write about, and otherwise evangelize for the water of life. In this, our 40th episode, we look back on our debut season, one filled with both spirit and spirits from around the world. Listen and learn from whiskey legends and whiskey newcomers alike, plus t...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Lisa Roper Wicker, President, Head Distiller, and Blender at Widow Jane Distillery. Located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Widow Jane, in addition to making and laying down its own distillates, affectionately named "Baby Janes," sources and blends straight bourbon and rye whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and then proo...

This week's guests on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  are Woody Kane and Chris McGowan, Global Ambassador and Director of Marketing, respectively, at The Busker Irish Whiskey. Distilled in County Carlow by Royal Oak Distillery, The Busker is a "new to world" Irish whiskey, designed to demonstrate Ireland's three signature styles of whiskey—Single Grain, Single Malt, and Single Pot Still—and...

This week's guest on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  is David DeFazio, Founder of Wyoming Whiskey. Located in Kirby, a four-hour drive east of Jackson Hole, Wyoming Whiskey produces a range of outstanding whiskeys, including Double Cask—a straight bourbon finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks—and Outryder, a rye-forward, bottled-in-bond, straight American whiskey that's neither rye nor bour...

This week's guest on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  is Lauren Oliver of Glengoyne Distillery in Dumgoyne, Scotland. Dubbed the "Mash Lass," Lauren is the first woman to serve as Mashhouse Production Operator at Glengoyne and, for that matter, one of comparatively few women working in Scotch whisky. Listen and learn how Oliver, a native of Greater Glasgow, transitioned from a planned career...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Mark Gillespie, Host & Executive Producer of WhiskyCast, the world's longest-running whiskey podcast. Listen and learn how Mark, who enjoyed a long career in radio news before blazing a podcasting trail for all who followed, went from journeyman broadcaster to the Internet's most recognizable voice of whiskey. Then hear how Seth Benhaim, Founder & CEO o...

Spirits of Whisk(e)y explores the wide world of whiskey through high-profile and out-of-the-way makers, blenders, writers, ambassadors, innovators, and pioneers. And Kerry & Philip have been traveling the world virtually to bring these people—and their whiskey journeys—to you. As season one of our podcast approaches its finale, we realize just how many great stories we've put aside to share wi...

This week's guests on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  are Patrick Fee and Kyle Merklein of McCormick Distilling Co., home of the historic Holladay Distillery in Weston, Missouri, just outside Kansas City. Vice President of Marketing Patrick and Master Distiller Kyle are responsible for making and marketing an expansive portfolio of spirits, including gin, rum, and vodka, plus several house w...

This week's guest on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  is Sean Josephs, Founder & Master Taster at Pinhook Whiskey, a brand that blends select straight bourbon and straight rye whiskeys produced by the Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, naming each distinctive result in honor of a promising young thoroughbred racehorse. After a special at-the-races edition of "Whiskey...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Nicole Austin, General Manager & Distiller at Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. in Tullahoma, Tennessee, makers of George Dickel Whisky. Listen and learn how Nicole works to honor the brand's storied past—150 years and counting—with new Bottled-in-Bond and 15-Year Single Barrel releases while driving innovation with the first two editions of her hand-se...

This week's guests on Spirits of Whisk(e)y are Michael Scully and Paul Corbett of Clonakilty Atlantic Distillery in County Cork, Ireland. The Scully family has farmed this windswept land on the country's southwest coast for nine generations, and in 2018, they introduced whiskey to what had been a largely milky affair. Listen and learn how Founder Michael, along with Head Distiller & Blender Paul,...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Denny Potter, General Manager & Master Distiller at Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. Among the American national spirit's more revered brands, Maker's Mark Straight Bourbon Whisky—yes, no "e"—enjoys a large and dedicated following. Listen and learn as Denny shares memories of a life in whiskey (and rum!), tells the remarkable origin sto...

This week's guests on Spirits of Whisk(e)y are Jacob Call and Terry Lozoff, creators of Wheel Horse Whiskey, a collaboration between Green River Distilling Co. and Latitude Beverage Co. Listen and learn as Master Distiller Jacob Call shares the process of resurrecting the Green River distillery, literally from the ashes of a devastating 1918 fire, and Latitude's Spirits Director Terry Lozoff discu...

This week's guests on Spirits of Whisk(e)y are Brendan McCarron and David Blackmore of The Glenmorangie Company, producer of several globally-revered Scotch whiskies, including Glenmorangie and Ardbeg. Listen as the iconic brand's Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks and Global Master Ambassador, discuss A Tale of Cake, Glenmorangie's newest limited-release bottling, finished in Hungarian Tokaj dessert-...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Julian P. Van Winkle III, President of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, makers of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve Bourbon and Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon and Rye, easily the world's most sought-after whiskeys. Listen and learn how this third-generation distiller revived the fortunes of a struggling distillery and, in the process, honored his legendary gr...

This week's guests on Spirits of Whisk(e)y are Brittany Curran, Trevor Jones, and Greg Swartz—Executive Producer, Producer, and Director, respectively, of The Water of Life, a new film that looks at the craftsmen, chemists, and renegades who saved scotch whisky and started a creative revolution in Scotland. Listen and learn how these whiskey-passionate filmmakers set about developing, funding, and...

This week's guests on Spirits of Whisk(e)y are whiskey farmers Ashley & Colby Frey, Co-Founders of Frey Ranch Farmers + Distillers in Fallon, Nevada. Founded in 1854, a full 10 years before Nevada was granted statehood, Frey Ranch has been farming in the region for over 165 years. In 2014, Frey Ranch Estate Distillery, the first licensed distillery in Nevada since the advent of Prohibition, be...

We are taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday but join us next week when we speak with Colby and Ashley Frey of Frey Farms.   www.spiritsofwhiskey,com

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Matt Hofmann, Co-Founder & Master Distiller at Westland Distillery in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2010, Westland is widely recognized for an award-winning line of American single malt whiskeys that rely on regionally-grown ingredients, including locally-produced peat. In 2015, Matt's work was awarded Whiskey of the Year by the American Distillin...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Bruce Joseph, Master Distiller at Hotaling & Co., a pioneer of American craft distilling. The San Francisco distillery, founded by the legendary Fritz Maytag and formerly known as Anchor Distilling, before the 2017 purchase of its brewing operations by Japan's Sapporo Breweries, released its first small-batch spirits in 1996, long before craft disti...

This week's guests on  Spirits of Whisk(e)y  are Jack and Stephen Teeling—brothers who revived a storied name in Irish whiskey history and now stand at the forefront of the Irish whiskey renaissance, releasing one distinctive whiskey after another, including the eagerly anticipated Blackpitts, the distillery's first peated expression. Managing Director Jack and Sales & Marketing Dire...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Chris Seals, Co-Founder & CEO of Still Austin Whiskey Co. After a successful career in consulting on economics and sustainability for government and corporations large and small, the Kansas City native accepted his father's offer to open a distillery together. And so, after a global father-son tour of whiskey's very wide world, Still Austin, lo...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Joe Beatrice, Founder of Barrell Craft Spirits. After a successful career in advertising, founding and leading Blue Dingo Digital in the 1990s, the Boston native and New York technology and marketing entrepreneur turned his talents to whiskey and rum, launching Barrell Craft Spirits in 2013. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, Barrell Craft sources an...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Gordon Dundas of Scotland's Ian Macleod Distillers. In his capacity as International Brand Ambassador, this globetrotting spirits industry veteran represents the portfolio's extensive line of single malt and blended Scotch whiskies—Glengoyne, Tamdhu, Rosebank, Smokehead, Pig's Nose, Sheep Dip—as well as its Edinburgh Gin collection and more. The former...

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Tracie Franklin. The former US National Ambassador for Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whisky is many things—professional thespian, master bartender, spirits expert, whiskey evangelist—but today she joins us in her newest capacity. Listen and learn how Tracie went from singing Winnie the Pooh in dozens of languages on stages all over the world to being n...