The Whiskey Ring Podcast

Prohibition is a dirty word in our country. It evokes government overreach, failed social legislating, the rise of underground crime and the excesses of the Roaring '20s. As Americans, we also tend to believe that prohibition - lowercase 'p' - was exclusively an American experience.  In his book, Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition, Professor Mark Lawrence Schrad, Director...

Have you ever stood in a liquor store just looking at the labels? How about watching your favorite show and knowing what bottles are what based on shape alone? Have you ever bought a bottle based on the aesthetics alone? How about decanters and the like?  We usually talk about what's inside the bottle on this podcast, but today we're flipping the script. Companies like Stranger & Stranger are...

Lochlea Distillery sits on the Lowlands in Ayrshire, Scotland, producing whisky on the same farm Robert Burns tended over two centuries ago. For now, it's small scale, but behind that small scale is a world-class team.  When Lochlea was founded, the team brought in Malcolm Rennie, a long-time Islay veteran to build and design the internal functions. They played around with multiple fermentations,...

Traverse City Whiskey Co. (TCWC) was started as both a hobby and a business by Chris Fredrickson and a couple of friends. They started as many do, by buying aged MGP and selling it while building their own distillery.  A decade later, depending on the product, the MGP percentage is at 10%, or even lower. What they are buying from MGP - when they buy - is unaged distillate to their own specificatio...

It's the end of the year, the beginning of a new one, and time for some (maybe) accurate prognostications for what's coming down the line.  At the suggestion of Devin Ershow from American Mash & Grain and Borrowed Page Whiskey, John Hughes of EmbellishPod and I co-hosted a roundtable to talk about what's happening now in Craft Whiskey (you'll need to listen to find out what our guests think th...

Pronounce it once with me - Sleeve League, with a little "sh" on the "s". Sliabh Liag, translating to "mountain of stones" or "mountain of stone pillars", is a postcard-perfect spot on the northeast coast of Ireland by Donegal. The county, according to Sliabh Liag Distillers Founder James Doherty, is sometimes called "the forgotten county" because it borders more of Northern Ireland than the Repub...

Bimber is so damn exciting. It just is. Their Bimber Klub sold out in hours, and the Dunphail equivalent is close behind. Founded by Polish husband and wife Dariusz and Ewelina in 2015, this distillery in the City of London is quietly producing some amazing English single malt. Between the liquid itself (the new make is a distillery exclusive but worthy of seeking out) and the various cask finishi...

Mark and Sherri Carter have, in short order, build a reputation of incredible whiskies. On top of their already legendary winery, they now have a Kentucky-based empire of barrel proof whiskies.  When they got (back) to Kentucky and kicked off Kentucky Owl, I don't think even they thought they'd be here, with ryes, bourbons, American whiskies all sought after by collectors and snatched up as soon a...

Driftless Glen has an ethereal quality to it...the name alone sounds mysterious, like a land stuck in time where great things can be found. Turns out, they can be. If you like whiskey and great food, of course - just don't ask to see the fryer (spoiler alert: there isn't one).  Founder Reneé Bemis joins me to talk about Driftless Glen Distillery, their independent way of doing things and the reaso...

Mammoth Distilling was, well, a mammoth effort to get on the podcast! But we're here, and it was a blast.  Ari and Collin have quietly (to the outside world) and not-so-quietly (to the whiskey world) been on an adventure, one that spans a century, a ten-mile-wide straight, an isolated island, and two countries that, despite continued animosity, seem to keep giving and taking throughout history.  W...

Execute episode 66... Fittingly, for Episode 66 we're going to Northern California, the home of Redwood Empire Whiskey and the great redwood forests. Looking up at these primevally-large trees is a stupendous experience, one George Lucas would be inspired by.  Redwood Empire was founded in 2017 with the goal of producing excellent in-house whiskey that could stand on its own or be blended with old...

Glenn's Creek Distillery lies on hallowed ground - the former Old Crow bottling plant on McCracken Pike in Kentucky, down the road from Castle & Key. Founder David Meier knows this, and has set his sights on resurrecting the Crow name...in his own method, of course.  Glenn's Creek is quietly producing some of the best nano-batch bourbons, whiskies, and spirits in Kentucky. Overshadowed by its...

This week we turn to another new concept - blended whiskey overseen by a team of whiskey writers. Lifelong friends Devin Ershow and Chase Langdon have run American Mash & Grain for several years, but last year they decided to put their whiskey knowledge into practice.  The result: Borrowed Page Volume One, a whiskey blending four distilleries:  - Watershed Distillery in Ohio ( WRP Episode 39 )...

Our first ever episode from Arizona!  I'm joined by Whiskey Del Bac Founder Stephen Paul and Head Distiller Mark Vierthaler to walk through the Whiskey Del Bac Classic, the Whiskey Del Bac Dorado, and how they're making American Single Malt in the not-so-dry desert on a spaceship malting apparatus.  Stephen comes from a carpentry background - having joined the "nub club" - and saw the beauty of me...

Has anyone held more jobs in the whiskey industry than Gregg Snyder? Seriously - I received the man's bio ahead of our interview and it was downright intimidating.  He's had roles at - just to name a few over a 41-year career: Chicken Cock/Grain and Barrel Kentucky Distiller's Association Joseph E. Seagram and Sons Jim Beam Western Spirits (Calumet, Sam Houston) Austin Nichols/ Wild Turkey Distill...

Last year, Dr. Edward Slingerland published  Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization . As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to talk to him. I had so many questions!  It took me a year, but I got him on - and it may be the best interview yet. Dr. Slingerland is a multifaceted researcher, drawing on experience with Warring States-era Ancient China, philosophy, sociology, evol...

From the meeting of two continents comes one of the best new whiskies of the year, and an episode so good I couldn't wait to share it with you all! Keeper's Heart - bringing together Irish pot still, Irish grain, and American Rye whiskey (and Bourbon, in another product) is the cross-Atlantic collaboration the industry has been waiting for.  David Perkins, liquid collaborator and advisor (and of H...

How many times have you tried a sherry-finished whiskey?  How many times have you tried the sherry it was finished in?  This week, I brought in sherry expert Monique Huston to talk about this fascinating fortified wine from Jerez, Spain. From Fino and Amontillado to Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez, sherry and wine-finishing has played an outsized role in whiskey maturation in the last century-plus.  In...

This week we're visiting a new state for the podcast - Virginia. When it comes to Virginia distilleries, you'll probably think of A. Smith Bowman or Mount Vernon first, but Ironclad should be your next visit.  Owen King, distiller and son of the distillery's founder, is playing with corn and mashbills the same way Middle West, Mammoth, and other innovators are exploring. Some of it isn't ready for...

BONUS EPISODE TIME! Jesse Parker reenters the Whiskey Ring to talk the new suite of Doc Swinson's finishes and what he's been up to in the last year (hint: lots of experiments and lots of well-deserved awards/nominations!) Just for Whiskey Ring Podcast listeners, Doc Swinson's is providing a discount code through October 3rd. Visit Docswhiskey.com and use code WEDDINGRING10 for 10% off your order,...

RD1 Spirits (you might know them as W. M. Tarr) has officially launched their new brand as of September 10th. W. M. Tarr was an excellent blended whiskey, but was always meant as a limited edition while the RD1 bourbons became ready.  Now, they are.  I talk with Barry Brinegar, National Brand Ambassador, face of the brand, and now a friend, all about the origins of Registered Distillery 1, Ashland...

This week we're celebrating the people who make your night better - the bar managers and whiskey/spirits guides who help you choose that next drink or the next thing to explore.  Joining me are Darron Foy of The Flatiron Room and Jose Guzman of Fine & Rare, both part of The Goodnight Group in New York City. These are whiskey paradises, high-end speakeasies with whiskey literally lining the wal...

Episode 56 brings us back home to Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, an industrial zone close to the Gowanus canal, to Van Brunt Stillhouse.  I'm joined by founder and distiller Daric Schlesselman, whose vision for a distillery in Red Hook spans a decade and who has, over that decade, remained true to the small-scale distilling model. Daric is someone driven to experiment - look no further than the...

Episode 55 is a round-the-world journey with the one and only @whiskyraj, Raj Sabharwal. (It's also the first with our new sponsor, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society!)  Raj is one of the nicest, most personable guys you'll ever meet in whisky. I met him at - you guessed it - Travel Bar in Brooklyn, NY, where we tasted through a set of Bimber Whiskies, Rest and Be Thankful Rums, and a pair of Japanese...

Episode 54 is a trip to Baltimore! Old Line Spirits sits in Highlandtown, Baltimore, producing some of the best American single malt I've had yet. They're not afraid of both using friends to make their whiskey better - distilling the majority of their spirit at Middle West Spirits, where they operated out of for a time during their learning - and exploring new finishes that are familiar yet made n...