The Whiskey Ring Podcast

Episode 53 brings a new category to the Whiskey Ring Podcast: American Independent Bottlers. My guests are Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, co-founders of Lost Lantern Whiskey and independent bottlers of American whiskey from all over the country.  Both founders have deep whiskey experience, Nora from Astor Wine and Spirits in New York and Adam from Whiskey Advocate, and both wanted to bring t...

It's good stuff - All of it. Updates on the Podcast, Patreon, Under the Influencer, Sample Sets/Calendars, Events, Travel, and Sponsors.   Thank you to all patrons - you are the core of this engine and I couldn't do it without you.   Not a patron yet? Sign up today at patreon.com/whiskeyinmyweddingring

Episode 52! We're jumping back to the Midwest with Middle West Spirits. Co-founder and head distiller Ryan Lang joins the Whiskey Ring Podcast to talk distilling in Ohio, heavy and light grains, and how to properly pronounce "Michelone". Middle West puts out some spectacular whiskies, and my favorite of the core lineup might just be their Pumpernickel Rye.  Don't miss out on the wheat whiskey or t...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guests are Glen Sauer and Ryan Scheswohl of Village Garage Distillery in Vermont.  Village Garage is located in Bennington, VT, within 3 hours of multiple major markets. Despite this, they're starting small and want to stay small, producing what they like and experimenting how they want to. This w...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guest is Stephen Fante, National Brand Ambassador for Limestone Branch Distillery. Stephen has a fascinating back story: between being a tea sommelier (a new thing for me that I love), a childhood friend of Stephen Beam who lost touch then reconnected over the latter's distillery, and now a nation...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guest is Scott Brunow from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.  You might recognize Scott from his still-going and long-running series with friend Bart, the Scotch Test Dummies. Scott has spent nine years trying Scotch (and other whiskies) and reviewing them on a journey to try and learn about the whi...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guests are Terry Lozoff and Randall Bird of Wheel Horse Whiskey.  Wheel Horse is sourced - as transparently as I've seen a brand be - from Owensboro, KY and Green River Distilling. Green River, temporarily named OZ Tyler, didn't have the greatest reputation due to the TerraPURE process being used...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guest is Blair Ault from Milam & Greene Whiskey.  Milam & Greene is a Texas distillery with a heart in Kentucky. Drawing on the combined talents and lineages of Marlene Holmes and Heather Greene, Milam & Greene distills in both Texas AND Kentucky (at Bardstown Bourbon Company) to their...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guest is David Mandell, founder of Bardstown Bourbon Company, now of Kentucky Owl and Kentucky Bourbon Festival fame.  After a career in government (the NTSB and the FAA) and as a lawyer, David and his college friend decided they wanted to get into distilling. That's the short story - today, he's...

Hey Whiskey Ringers, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. This week's guest is Colin Keegan, founder of Santa Fe Spirits. In just over a decade as a distiller, Colin has gone from newbie to veteran to industry powerhouse, all while maintaining the cool, calm, informed demeanor that mixes his childhood in Northern England with his life in Santa Fe.  Santa Fe Spirits,...

That's right, he's back! Welcome Whiskey Ringers to Episode 44, the return of the Alchemist himself, Alan Bishop.  The star of this episode is one of Alan's newer concoctions, The Whiskey Witch, a wheat, oat, barley, and Indiana peat-smoked mash that defies categorization. Seriously - we don't know how this will be categorized!  As always, this episode with Alan is a blast. I can't wait to visit S...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers to Episode 43! Today's guest is Victoria Eady Butler, Master Blender and 5th-generation descendant of the distillery's namesake, Nathan "Nearest" Green.   Uncle Nearest Distillery is no stranger to the Whiskey Ring: earlier this year, Fawn Weaver joined the Podcast for a conversation about the Distillery's place in the whiskey world and a retrospective on the then-and-now o...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers to Episode 42! Today's guest is Chris Swonger, President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) and Responsibility.org.  Chris has a long history in the spirits world, but after ten years away he was asked to take the reins of the industry's leading advocacy organization. In 2019, he assumed his role, leading both DISCUS and the alcohol-use a...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers to Episode 41! Today's guest is Erik Wolfe, co-founder of Stoll & Wolfe Distillery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Erik founded Stoll & Wolfe with the late Dick Stoll, who worked for decades at Bomberger's (later Michter's) Distillery until it closed in 1989. After nearly three decades, Erik convinced Dick to come out of retirement to found a brand new distiller...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers to Episode 40! Today's guest is Joshua Hatton, co-founder of Single Cask Nation (SCN). SCN is one of the most popular independent bottlers on the planet, with every release a near-instant sellout. But it wasn't always this way. Join us as we talk starting up an independent bottler, how to choose where to pick your barrels, turning barrels down, and the picks that went under...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers! Today's guest comes to me via Bourbon & Banter, where I reviewed Watershed Distillery's Apple Brandy-finished Bourbon and their Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon last year. I got to try their original cask strength (5-grain, including spelt) and their apple brandy, too. TL;DR, I'm impressed. Watershed is putting out solid bourbon with its own unique twist, and it's priced at a p...

Welcome Whiskey Ringers! Today we venture to the great north - Rochester, NY. Black Button Distilling is doing grain-to-glass right, using New York grain in their Four-Grain Straight Bourbon, Empire Rye, Cask Strength Bourbon, and more.  You'll taste the grains, you'll taste the bourbon - and you'll love it. Don't skip the cream, by the way.  There are only 5 tickets left for the Jack Daniel's Ten...

Today we venture to the Midwest - Wisconsin - to Dancing Goat Distillery. Founder Nick Maas and his team are doing things that few distilleries would do (or would admit to doing), blending their own product with sourced whiskey to achieve something greater than the sum of its parts.  Plus, Nick is insane in the best way (as he will admit) and this is a blast of an interview.  There are only 5 tick...

Today is Barrell Day! Barrell Craft Spirits takes up more room on my shelves than any distillery or producer other than Heaven Hill and Highland Park. Their 95/5 rye single barrels are my go-to, the experimental finishes are at minimum interesting and often extraordinary, and the new Gray Label Seagrass and Gray Label 24 Year Old are whiskies to hunt for.  There are only 5 tickets left for the Jac...

Today we're getting nerdy with Dr. Pat Heist, fermentation specialist extraordinaire and distiller at Wilderness Trail Distillery. We get deep into the science and variations on fermenting, distillation, enzymatic activity, and sweet mash. It's a geek-out, but I think you'll love it.  There are only 4 tickets left for each Jack Daniel's event! Sign up for your samples here: Jack Daniel's Tasting E...

This one's a biggie! Bernie Lubbers of Heaven Hill fame (and Jim Beam, and Bottled in Bond, and more!) joins the Whiskey Ring Podcast.  We're taking a deep dive into Heaven Hill - Parker's Heritage Collection, Heaven Hill Select Stock, Gift Shop releases, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, all the heavy hitters us whiskey nerds go crazy for.  If you haven’t joined the Patreon community, now is the time: y...

ImpEx Beverages might not be the name you know best, but here are some others: Kilchoman. Single Cask Nation. Adelphi Selection. Ohishi and Fukano. Port Askaig. These are just some of the brands, independent bottlers, and distilleries within the ImpEx umbrella.  Join Sam and me as we talk about starting an import-export (Imp-Ex, get it?) company, the three-tier system, independent bottlers, and th...

You might be more familiar with Daylight Wine and Spirits' Ammunition Wines, a California winery producing bold reds. What you might not know is that under a year ago, Ammunition branched out into whiskey, finishing MGP bourbon in their own Cabernet Sauvignon barrels and MGP rye in their own Pinot Noir barrels. Both show a skillful balance of spirit and finish - and a deep understanding of how the...

Back in 2016, Clay Risen wrote an article for the Times about a man named Nathan “Nearest” Green. Fawn Weaver, an author and entrepreneur, was halfway around the world in Singapore when she read the article. That moment would change both of their lives.  This week’s episode and the live event focused on the man and his legacy, the growth and future of his eponymous whiskey brand, and how Uncle Nea...

Welcome to Episode 30 of the Whiskey Ring Podcast. My guests today are Scott Manning and Rich Morrow, founders of BoozApp. With the tagline #dontgetrobbed, BoozApp lays down its gauntlet front and center. BoozApp provides three key pieces of information for the spirits community: MSRPs, Shelf Price, and Fair Price, a community-driven data point that can be voted on by actual drinkers. Their aim is...