Author name: Mark Gillespie

We all have our own whisky stories to tell, and author Shelley Sackier is sharing hers in the new book “Make It a Double.” She’s gone from hating that first sip of whisky to becoming director of distillery education at Virginia’s Reservoir Distillery over the years, and the book combines serious whisky knowledge with her own unique sense of humor. She’ll tell us what that first dram was and how she learned to love whisky on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, former Old Forester master taster Jackie Zykan has announced her plans for a new whiskey brand, while Read More »

The whisky industry depends on quercus alba, the American White Oak, for hundreds of thousands of whisky barrels each year, and that makes preserving White Oak forests a key priority for those concerned about the industry’s future. Climate change and other factors are threatening the long-term sustainability of prime White Oak forests in the Midwest, and the White Oak Initiative is bringing together foresters with those who depend on the viability of the forests. This week on WhiskyCast In-Depth, we’ll talk with Brown-Forman’s Greg Roshkowski. He’s responsible for the company’s cooperages and its wood management program, and he’s also one Read More »

How do our noses help us enjoy whisky? Turns out the nose has a major role to play in our enjoyment of whisky, food, and life in general. The average nose has around 400 receptors that process aromas, and they’re far more sensitive than our tongues are. Dr. Paul Wise is a sensory researcher at Philadelphia’s Monell Chemical Senses Center, and his work focuses on how the nose and our other senses process chemical inputs present in our daily life. He’ll take us deep inside the nose for a unique WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, building a distillery on Islay Read More »

The Sazerac is one of whisky’s oldest cocktails, and it’s also the official cocktail of New Orleans. They’re celebrating the history of the Sazerac all this week in New Orleans with Sazerac Cocktail Week, and we’ll visit the home of the Sazerac on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. Sazerac House is a free cocktail museum with its own microdistillery producing small amounts of Sazerac Rum and Peychaud’s Bitters, and we’ll talk with Matt Ray, the head of visitor experiences, about the history of the cocktail and much more. In the news, Scotch Whisky distillers could be affected by a strike targeting Read More »

Catoctin Creek’s Scott and Becky Harris were honored with the Dave Pickerell Memorial Craft Member of the Year Award during last Thursday’s Distilled Spirits Council awards luncheon in New Orleans. The Harrises have been leaders in the craft distilling movement for more than a decade, and are perfectly placed to explain the issues many small-scale distillers face in today’s crowded marketplace. We’ll talk with them on WhiskyCast In-Depth and check in with Nicole Austin of George Dickel on Behind the Label. She was honored with the Emerging Leader of the Year Award, days after shocking a few purists by releasing Read More »

More than 100 Irish farmers grow barley exclusively for Waterford Distillery, but Trevor Harris is one of a handful using biodynamic techniques on his farm. Biodynamics takes organic farming to the extreme, using naturally-based soil supplements instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We’ll visit Trevor Harris’s farm and the distillery on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, U.S. regulators are taking a second look at bottle size standards, and that could open the door to 500ml whiskies in the future. We’ll look at addition and subtraction when it comes to whisky’s maturation equation on Behind the Label and much Read More »

Brad Paisley has entertained millions of people with his music over the years. Deep down, though…he’s a whiskey geek just like the rest of us. From “dusty bottle” searches on his concert tours to hauling around a trailer full of whiskey for his American Highway Reserve Bourbon, he’s learned to enjoy a dram over the years. He’ll talk music and whiskey with us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, and we’ll have tasting notes for the Route 2 edition of American Highway Reserve, too. In the news, the world’s largest bottle of whisky fell short of setting another world record at Read More »

Whisky lovers are making the pilgrimage to Islay for the first time in two years as the Islay Festival of Malt and Music gets underway later this week. There have been a lot of changes at the island’s distilleries since the last in-person festival in 2019. For instance, it’ll be the first Fèis on the island for Julieann Fernandez as master blender at Bunnahabhain Distillery. She’ll join us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, police are still searching for two suspects in the Glenfarclas Distillery break-in, while a Canadian distillery is rebranding as part of a settlement with Read More »