Key In The Lake Whiskey Podcast

Live from Pizz’Amici, Gio shares his two years behind the bar at this coveted pizza joint in West Town. Gio’s ran the bar at Pizz’Amici since they opened their doors. He’s brought his amusing infectious personality of hospitality and humility to the restaurant. Gio shakes us a couple Strawberry Last Words for this episode while we reflect on his career in bartending in Chicago. Guest: Sean "Gio" G...

John Chesney and Matt Brown join me for a recap of 300 episodes. We look back on the landscape of whiskey when I first began the podcast seven years ago and to where whiskey and consumer are heading now. Hosts: Jake Hukee, Matt Brown and John Chesney Listen to more episodes and read stories at keyinthelake.com Key In The Lake

After 298 episodes, we drop whiskey and talk tequila with Suerte… kind of. Our good buddies are here to hang to talk about the successes and failures in hospitality; the plethora of great stock of whiskey sitting in American distilleries and now hitting the shelves; and a bit on the online culture in the whiskey space. Guest: Eric Rosentreter & Chris Blatter Host: Jake Hukee and John Chesney L...

Eric Mersch and Sam Bergren of Still Austin are back. Eric hasn’t been on in couple years and the last time Sam appeared on the show he was representing Mississippi River Distilling Co. Now, the duo kills it in the Illinois market for this great, emerging Texas Distillery. They share the ethos and how the distillery has adapted in the past decade to become very recognizable American distillery. Gu...

Wilson Returns! The man who started the podcast with me seven years ago. Wilson Torres is back to tell us about everything Whistle Pig. Wilson shares the purpose behind this exceptional Rye Whiskey brand and how they’ve grown into one the major players in American Whiskey. Hey, young world… Guest: Wilson Torres Host: Jake Hukee and John Chesney Listen to more episodes and read stories at keyinthel...

Stephen and I catch up. We’ve both moved on from our Australian spirits companies. After more than six year, Stephen resigned from being the National Brand Ambassador of Mr. Black. He’s now venturing out on his own, creating his a production for the industry, As Is Productions. Listen to what his creative mind and skillset can do for spirits companies, restaurants, bars and coffeeshops. Guest: Ste...

Live from Slightly Toasted for The Battle of The Bastards: the battle for well whiskey supremacy. Forty-five whiskey enthusiasts joined for a bracket challenge of blind tasting eight different work horses that fill our shot glasses, our house cocktails and are always available. Head-to-head the eight whiskeys went until one bastard was left standing. Listen to find out which whiskey it was. Host:...

Live from Slightly Toasted, John Chesney and I sit down to discuss our lord and savior AI. We analyze how it’s an adaptable and functional tool for both distilleries and bars to better understand their customers. We also chat how distilleries could adapt to the craft brewery model to survive as hundreds of distilleries close and consolidate across the US. Hosts: Jake Hukee & John Chesney Liste...

Chris joins the show to discuss the current status of whiskey social media. We chat on how the algorithm has morphed from promoting fun, critical discussions of whiskey to a division through “hot takes” has enveloped social media platforms in the whiskey space. We also discuss the lawsuit against Bardstown Bourbon Company. We look at the nuanced angles from journalistic coverage, to social respons...

Our first podcast of 2026. We recap the industry shakeups from large brand houses downsizing, giant distributors taking a hit, and how brands and consumers are sifting their ways through the rye of it all. We also find logic and purpose for whiskey brands to succeed this year. Hosts: Jake Hukee, Matt Brown & John Chesney Listen to more episodes and read stories at keyinthelake.com Key In The L...

Kojin Tashiro, founder of Mugen Spirit, shares his Japanese heritage and American identity in the form of whiskey. Kojin was burnin in Japan but moved to America as a child. He blends both worlds together by sourcing Bourbon and using Japanese history, folklore, and art to tell a story of both countries inside and outside of the bottle. Guest: Kojin Tashiro Host: Jake Hukee and John Chesney Listen...

Co-Founder at Clonakilty Distillery, Sean Scully joins us to share his family’s story of transforming their family farm to an Irish Whiskey Distillery. Sean also highlights the vast history of Irish whiskey, and pays homage to the large Irish brands that have established themselves across the world, paving the road for the smaller distilleries that are emerging. Guest: Sean Scully Host: Jake Hukee...

Chris and Sammy share the truly unique method of blending whisky at Found North. Their independent approach has caught the attention of consumers from across the country in a short time since they opened their doors just five years ago. Found North’s individualistic and eccentric approach to sourcing and blending Canadian whisky is truly the intertwining of art, science and business. Guests: Sammy...

Kevin, founder of The Beautiful and The Damned, returns. Kevin provides his industry insights on the financial side of whiskey; the price drop in barrels, the rising amount of inventory in the US, the growing number of US distilleries, etc. These are the factors that equate to the drop in whiskey sales and the plethora of unsold cases we have sitting in the millions waiting to be sold, purchased a...

An East Meets West conversation, translated through our love of whiskey. Ken Matsuyama proprietor of famed Tokyo whiskey bar Ken’s Bar and Kojin Tashiro of Mugen Spirit share their love of spreading bourbon across the world. Kojin explains how his unique background of immigrating from Japan to America’s Bourbon Capital has created his opportunity to bridge bourbon in America and Japan. Ken stands...

Kevin, the founder of The Beautiful and The Damned, shares his adventurous decision to start a whiskey brand in 2023. He patiently approached building an American whiskey brand with quality of construction with sourced whiskey from MGP and steadily expanding in various markets across the country. We also discuss the economics of whiskey and the confidence and the intelligence it takes to construct...

After six years between appearances, Jared Savocchi is back. We visit his Logan Square tavern, The Native to converse on a myriad of subjects surrounding bar culture. We hit on running/operating a neighborhood establishment post covid, creating trust with employees, adapting to drinking trends and how relationships are everything in this industry. Guests: Jared Savocchi, Chris Blatner, Matt Brown...

To celebrate International Whisky Day, we go to a New York with a live studio audience at Martiny’s for the launch of the collaboration between Starward X Lagavulin. Last March, I recorded a conversation with Starward founder David Vitale, Diego Master Blender Stuart Morrison and Whiskey Expert Noah Rothbaum. The three share the story of how this unprecedented collaboration developed over years of...

Angela is the director of all things sales and representing her hometown distillery of KOVAL. She entered the industry three years ago, but she holds herself as an industry vet with great charm, personality and a real sense of hospitality. Her background in the theater built a foundation of approaching whiskey as an art, which has allowed her authentic passion for whiskey to shine. Guest: Angela S...

Hannah and I are launching a series of episodes highlighting women in the whiskey industry. We kick off this series by Hannah briefly sharing her experience of working for local and international distilleries in various markets; and introducing our future guests’ diverse backgrounds in spirits and whiskey. Guest: Hannah Thomas Host: Jake Hukee Listen to more episodes and read stories at keyinthela...

Last week, we hosted a charity bottle raffle to donate money to Another Round Another Rally for their aid to the LA bars/restaurants affected by the LA fires. Brands from around the world donated bottles to be raffled at our live event with 50 guests at Slightly Toasted in Chicago. We interviewed master distillers, brand reps, retailers and whiskey clubs who donated products to raise more than $3,...

Neil Macleod Mathieson is the whisky maker for Torabhaig Distillery and Mossurn Distillers & Blenders. He has 40 years of experience in the spirits industry. Neil began his career by writing to Champagne houses, in a gentlemanly way, to become a blender. A couple of houses accepted him onto their estates and from there whisky was the next step. Blending and distilling of spirits has been Neil’...

John Chesney of Slightly Toasted and Matthew Brown of La Crosse Distilling are back. John shares how his bar’s recent Pappy Van Winkle event revealed that the one percent of American whiskey drinkers are jaded by our overabundant amount of great American offerings. We also discuss how bars and retailers are surviving during the slow months of January and February; and how marketing departments of...

Matthew Brown is back with a new game called Hot, Not, Thought. The game turned into an expertise for us to discuss new brands and marques coming soon to the market. We gage our levels of anticipation and excitement for these new whiskeys, and discuss how they’ll adjust into the current climate of this fading whiskey industry. Guest: Matt Brown Host: Jake Hukee Listen to more episodes and read sto...

For the last six months I’ve worked for The Macallan. My previous employer was Starward Distillery from Melbourne, AU. I worked for the Aussie outfit for over five years, and on this episode I talk about the pros of working for one of the biggest single malt distilleries in the world versus a smaller single malt distillery. Host: Jake Hukee Listen to more episodes and read stories at keyinthelake....