The Whiskey Ring Podcast

Whisky Secrets from Cumbria: A Journey with Kirsty Taylor   What makes English whisky stand out in a crowded global market? Kirsty Taylor, the commercial director at the Lakes Distillery, shares the secrets behind their award-winning single malts and the innovative spirit driving England's whisky renaissance. We delve into the fascinating journey of the Lakes Distillery over the past decade, uncov...

The Oldest Independent Bottlers and a Brand New Scottish Distillery   Are you fascinated by the rich history of whisky and the art of independent bottling? Join me as I welcome esteemed friend Gary Pickard, Northeast Regional Manager of Pacific Edge Wine and Spirits. Gary takes us on a captivating journey through the histories of two iconic independent bottlers, William Cadenheads and AD Rattray....

From Wall Street to Whiskey: The Revival of Hudson House Distillery Get ready for an inspiring tale of resilience, determination, and the unyielding spirit of entrepreneurship! In our latest episode, I sit down with Charles Ferri, the co-founder and CEO of Hudson House Distillery. Charles shares his incredible journey from the high-flying world of Wall Street to the picturesque Hudson Valley, wher...

Barley, Fortnum & Mason, and a 10th Anniversary Celebration What if the land itself could tell the story of your whiskey? This part-two episode brings you the conclusion of our in-depth conversation with Dan Szor, founder and former CEO of Cotswolds Distilling, as he reveals how the unique terroir of the Cotswolds shapes their exceptional spirits. We draw parallels with the Bruichladdich model...

An Expat, Jim Swan, and Outstanding Natural Beauty Dan Szor is an expat, a native of New York City who has found a permanent home in the Cotswolds of England, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with rolling hills, flowers, and fruits. With a background in finance, Dan found whisky as a side passion, one he converted into a full-time role in the early 2010s by starting the Cotswolds Distillery. ...

The Wren Boy in the West Sitting on the farthest spit of peninsula in Europe, Dingle Distillery is the first craft distillery in Ireland post-consolidation. From its place on the Wild Atlantic Way, Dingle set forth the path for the dozens of Irish distilleries that followed in the last decade-plus.  Managing Director and son of the founder Elliot Hughes joins me to talk through Dingle's history an...

White Corn + Amish Dairy Farm = Kentucky Craft On my first trip to Kentucky in 2022, I needed one more distillery to visit before heading down to Nashville for the Tennessee portion of my trip. I could've gone to a heritage distillery - still haven't been to Jim Beam or Buffalo Trace - but instead, I took a chance on a small distillery in Christian County near the state line: MB Roland.  I got to...

Square Stills, Moonshine, and Two Total Eclipses Ever seen a square pot still? No? Me neither. Apparently, for moonshiners in the Land Between the Rivers (now Land Between the Lakes) region, square stills were all the rage - they could be loaded into the back of a pickup truck, easily disassembled, and still put out high quality moonshine. And nobody did it better than Arlen Jones, better known as...

A Navy Strength Rebrand...And a Rye??? Old Line Spirits returns with some new looks! Since Mark and Old Line Spirits were last on the podcast back in Episode 54, they've made several changes to their brand. An updated label, a bumped-up proof (86 to 95) for the core single malt, and hints of a rye coming sometime in 2024... Mark and Arch are two Navy buddies who founded Old Line in Baltimore, play...

A Master Distiller Who's Earned His Stripes Brian Sprance is New Riff's new master distiller! Aside from some good-natured ribbing from his colleagues, though, you would never know it.  New Riff named Brian Master Distiller after getting the blessing from Ebersold and co-founders Ken Lewis and Jay Erisman. Ten years after he started, he is now at the top.  Brian has been with New Riff since before...

A Rooster, A Family, and Memphis Barbecue Old Dominick isn't the oldest distillery in Tennessee, but it's no spring chicken either. The brand itself - including a stint as a whiskey blending house - goes back to 1866, the same year a Mr. Jasper "Jack" Daniel was setting up his own stillhouse a few hours east.  158 years later, D. Canale & Co. no longer has a food distribution business, but the...

Exploring French and American Oak Whiskey Jypsi's newest release - Explorer - seeks to show how the core identities of French and American oak species affect flavor in whiskey. They take the consumer on a world tour, stopping both in Eric Church's backyard (North Carolinian American white oak near to where Church grew up) and French oak from the Tronçais forest.  Neither wood is entirely new to Am...

Pioneering Indian Single Malt Raj's return brings news about Amrut, the king of Indian Single Malt. It is no longer the only Indian Single Malt on the market like it was in 2004, but neither has Amrut been sitting on its laurels.  With Ashok Chokalingham at the helm as head distiller - a post he gained after many years in sales and production - Amrut is promoting the idea of Indian Single Malt whi...

The Story is the Story I have a general rule when given the opportunity to interview NDPs on the podcast - they must do something with the whiskey other than buying stock and slapping their own label on it. Otherwise, how many times can you talk about the same MGP bourbon or rye? (Yes, I know there are other sources now, but the point remains).  With Filmland Spirits, they are doing some of their...

From Great Brewing Comes Great Distilling Copperworks Distilling is making whiskey from grain. Simple, right? I mean, from a legal sense, that's quite literally what every other whiskey-maker is doing.  That's where the similarities end. Jason Parker, co-founder and longtime brewer, is experimenting with barley in ways that are different not only from other distillers but singularly unique from re...

The Best of the (Mid)West! The Spring 2024 Collection launches today, March 27!  We first met Lost Lantern Spirits way back in Episode 53 - they are "shining a light on the independent spirit", bringing the tradition of independent bottling (and blending!) to American whiskey.  In the two-ish years since, co-founders Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski have grown and grown, now with a physical spa...

Red, Red Wine Casks There are certain things we take for granted with whisky - American whiskey will mostly be new charred oak, Scotch will be ex-bourbon or ex-sherry, and the rest of the world will likely use ex-bourbon casks as a default for maturation. This leads to a generalization of taste, an expectation that certain flavors will always be there.  When starting Starward Whisky, one of the fi...

Uptown FUNK When you think Jamaican rum, you think funk. Funny thing is, most Jamaican rum by both volume and number of distillers is not funky.  BTW - funky is the unscientific way of saying ester content. All those fruity, dark, tropical, funky notes are esters, the interactions and transformations of acids and alcohols and aldehydes into the familiar flavor compounds we love.  Hampden Estate, h...

“Born of the Field – Raised by the Sound” Just in time for Bottled-in-Bond month!  Long Island Spirits - Long Island's first craft distillery - is quietly leading the way in my own backyard. Situated about an hour and a half outside of NYC, LI Spirits is making field-to-glass whiskies, brandies, vodkas, and more using the local land for its grains, grapes, and potatoes (not the rum, sorry - sugar...

Makers of the only vodka I enjoy. And also the first rye from Scotland in 100+ years.  Arbikie Highland Estate is in the forefront of the new Scotch whisky movement. Focused on sustainability, flavor, and locality, Arbikie is betting big on the future.  They're making a single malt, but waiting 18 years to release it (some might be released early, but don't count on it). Their strawberry vodka tak...

Peerless in the 1800s and Peerless today.  Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., founded by Henry Kraver in the late 19th century, is in a class by itself. The lone sweet mash distiller in Louisville with the most distinctive bottle in the state, Peerless built itself back up through rye and its story.  Several years later, they're thriving. Single barrels abound of both rye and bourbon, with all the...

Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's Door?  I'm joined by Alex Moore, head blender for Heaven's Door to talk about their entire spirits lineup, the plan to start distilling in Kentucky, and how much of a role Bob Dylan plays in all of this (spoiler: he's actually quite involved!).  Here's an admission: I don't really know much about Bob Dylan's music. I don't know if it's not my style or I just have...

Let's start with the basics: Hard Truth is putting out some incredible ryes from Indiana. And none of it came from MGP.  There's so much more, though. Using a sweet mash technique, Hard Truth is developing ryes, bourbons, and finished whiskies, always with an eye to standing out. They've got a 325-acre property on which you can stay, taste, tour, make your own moonshine, and "get lost" adventures....

River Roots Barrel Company, out of Cleveland, Ohio, has been making some serious waves in the whiskey world. Their hazmat proof bottlings on Seelbach's flew off the virtual shelves, and the upcoming port barrel bourbon is on my to-do list as soon as it's live.  As always, though, there's more to the story, including partnerships with barrel brokers and celebrity chef Michael Symon. At first glance...

Nelson's Green Brier Distillery - NGB for short - has been around for quite a while. It's older than Jack and George, and at one time produced more than both of those by several magnitudes. And then, like so many others (and unlike its younger peers), Prohibition put an end to Charles Nelson's distillery, which his wife Louisa led for 18 years after his passing and until statewide Prohibition in 1...