It's Whiskey #FFS | First Fill Spirits

We head back over to Japan with a look at Mars Distilleries including Shinshu and Tsunuki. Both Charles and I have visited Shinshu and had different experiences but all in all, this is a distillery worth the 4 hours one-way on public transit. We also would like to hear from all of you about our 2023 whiskey travel plans. Charles owns a company called Rascal + Thorn which is a culinary and whiskey...

The first truly Irish Peated Whiskey arriving this year? Charles and I take a look at Waterford Distillery and their farm-bottle, terroir-driven whiskeys along with a discussion of their highly anticipated peated release. We also discuss the exciting yet sad news of what the 2022 Van Winkle Family of Whiskeys are and what their suggested retail price is versus reality. But don't fret, there are so...

New World Whisky is on our minds this episode as we discuss Stauning Danish Whisky along with new celebrity partnerships for brands like The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and Monkey Shoulder. Holly sounds tired and Charles sounds very energetic so the dynamic has switched this episode, enjoy!  Please leave us a review wherever you are listening as well. We appreciate you! Cheers! New Bott...

Holly guesses that the whisky Charles blind tastes her on is from Arran in Scotland and that's about all she got right, that it was from an Island but it was NOT Arran! We talk about all of the new Scotch Whisky that has arrived at the shop and Holly's trip to Kentucky and Tennessee. Did we mention we got a few Buffalo Trace products in too? We feel odd about it but hey, it's good whiskey. New Rif...

The blind tasting for this podcast is us walking through samples of a potential new store pick single barrel. We don't tell you the distillery, only the style so maybe you can guess it. Did we end up selecting one? What's our process? You'll find out soon enough! We also discuss Glenturret Distillery and all of their fantastic & new, heavily sherried single malt releases. Go highland malts!&nb...

I went rogue for this podcast and recorded solo! Although I missed Charles, I wanted to share my fantastic visit to Hillrock Distillery earlier this week. The summer has been madness and trying to catch any extra time to record with us both in the same room has been tricky! I also have been asked quite a bit about "how I got into whisky" so I decided to share my whisky journey in the episode as we...

Holly blind tastes Charles as they discuss Laphroaig, upcoming & insane rum seminars and Bardstown Bourbon Co. is growing!  Please leave us a review wherever you are listening as well. We appreciate you! Cheers! New Bottles to the shop: Mic Drop L22-01 Bourbon  Laphroaig Cairdeas 2022 Maker's Mark Cask Warehouse 1 Nashville Barrel Co - Bourbon New York 2 / Rye New York / Single Barre...

We just picked a single barrel of rum from Old Line Distillery in Maryland so who the heck are they? The rum is just the tip of the iceberg. If you haven't tried their cask strength American Single Malt, you're missing out. A really great distillery that is one to watch. Also, are you interested in "New World Whisky"? New World = whisky from everywhere BUT Scotland, Ireland, North America (USA/Can...

Charles and I discuss why Old Pepper Distillery should not be overlooked when visiting Lexington. We are also extremely excited about the new distillery on Islay named Port-nah-truan. The owners Elixir Distillers, once owners of The Whisky Exchange, are going to have malting floors, direct-fired wash stills and will not only produce single malt but also rum!  Please leave us a review wherever...

Okay, we were venting a bit on this episode but I promise, we really do enjoy following along with all of the spirits competitions. I guess there are just a few things we would change! We also discuss one of our favorite island distilleries in Scotland, Tobermory, the producers of the unpeated Tobermory malt and the peated Ledaig. Charles blind tastes Holly and let's just say a certain style of ca...

Holly picked a doozy bottle this week to blind taste Charles on, let's see if he can guess it :) We discuss our fantastic Saratoga Whiskey Club Shibui tasting and look at ways to re-think Japanese Whisky. Then we discuss Dingle Distillery in Ireland and the good news for American Distillers - the UK is dropping tariffs on Bourbon on June 1st, 2022!  Please leave us a review wherever you are l...

Charles and Holly discuss the dozens of new bottles that have arrived at the shop over the past few weeks. Everything from Scotch to Bourbon & Rye and of course, New World! Oh and Irish too. Then we discuss Boone County and their "Made by Ghosts" story and the recent Heaven Hill acquisition of Samson & Surrey. Charles also blind tastes Holly and she gets close but not quite right.  Ne...

Charles and Holly discuss a few of the impressive tastings they have attended over the past two weeks along with new releases to the shop, Caol Ila, and why people should stop hating on them. Then we end the episode with the announcement of two new distilleries to be built in/near Campbeltown! Oh, and Holly blind tastes Charles on a fantastic whiskey, does he guess it?!  New Bottles to the sh...

Charles blind tastes Holly while we talk about Penelope Bourbon from down in New Jersey and what our favorite Bourbon & Chocolate pairings are for this upcoming loooove holiday <3 Enjoy!  New Bottles to the shop: Stauning El Clasico Vermouth Finish Stauning Bastard Mezcal Finish McNair’s Lum Reek Blended Malt all of the latest Whiskey News & Deals and become a member of our Middle...

While tasting our latest store pick single barrel, Nulu Toasted Rye, we discuss Burn's Night, new bottles to the shop, and the most northerly distillery in Mainland Scotland, Wolfburn.  New Bottles to the shop: Leopold Dickel Collaboration Rye Whiskey Ohishi 8YR Sherry Cask Fukano 2021 Limited Edition Rice Whiskey  Blackadders: Chimera Blended Malt 59% abv Sherry Snake Single Cask Single...

January can be a bit odd for whiskey and the beginning of 2022 is proving to be quiet and bizarre already. We do have a fantastic new single barrel of Bourbon hitting the shelves from Town Branch so that is some great news! They will be our featured distillery today, along with Holly guessing the totally wrong country on her blind tasting, Breckenridge is now owned by a cannabis company and Jameso...

An episode for you to listen to while sneaking away from your family for a quick breather this holiday weekend! Our featured distillery is Fuji Gotemba in Japan right at the foot of Mt. Fuji and that's because we got another one of their first-ever US releases this month! Also, what do you think of Whiskey Awards? We talk about Whiskey Advocate's latest Top 20 Whiskeys of 2021.  New Bottles t...

Happy December! Charles and I have been working hard on our website and we want to tell you all about it! We are live at www.firstfillspirits.com. We also want to share details on our three latest single barrels and the barrels due to the shop soon. Starward is our feature distillery.  New Bottles to the shop: Murray McDavid -- so many to mention, we have over 12 new expressions in the shop (...

We're back! Charles was in Kentucky, no excuse for the delay in releasing episode 2 but at least it was for a whiskey reason. Since we have Kentucky on the brain we discuss Peerless distillery along with the new release from Molson Coors: Five Trail Whiskey.  New Bottles to the shop: Mars Tsunuki Peated | 50% ABV Compass Box Canvas | 46% ABV Sagamore 8YR Rye | 57.45% ABV Ardnamurchan Single M...

Our first episode! Charles and I walk through a few new products to arrive in the shop and then a blind tasting! Charles brought in a sample of something special and by nosing & tasting, I had to try and guess the age, distillery, cask type etc. My grade was a B- according to Charles, I'll take it! We do reveal live, on the show, what the whisky was but we will also list it in the next podcast...

Holly & Charles are two whiskey friends who have waited months and months to open up their dream, boutique whiskey shop called First Fill Spirits. Coming to you live from our shop in downtown Saratoga Springs in Upstate New York, you are about to listen to our "Welcome Episode". We will be hosting a weekly podcast to talk about what is new to the shop, whiskey news, blind tastings, distillery...