flooding - BourbonSphere

A Whisky Dream Comes True

Carin Luna-Ostaseski wanted an approachable Scotch whisky for newcomers, so she decided to blend her own. 11 years ago, the first bottles of SIA Scotch… Read More

Carin Luna-Ostaseski wanted an approachable Scotch whisky for newcomers, so she decided to blend her own. 11 years ago, the first bottles of SIA Scotch Whisky hit the market, becoming one of the first crowd-funded whiskies to successfully go on sale. We’ll catch up with Carin on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Irish Whiskey sales took a hit on 2023, but remains one of the fastest-growing segments of the whisky market. We’ll have the details, along with the rest of the week’s whisky news and much more.

Episode 1048: March 17, 2024

Image courtesy SIA Scotch Whisky.

Is the Luxury Whisky Investment Market Softening?

Whisky has become more attractive as an investment asset in recent years, but a new report indicates the value of luxury whiskies has declined over… Read More

Whisky has become more attractive as an investment asset in recent years, but a new report indicates the value of luxury whiskies has declined over the past year. We’ll talk with the report’s author, Duncan McFadzean of Scotland’s Noble & Company, on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, lots of hardware was handed out at this week’s awards ceremonies in Scotland and Ireland, and we’ll have the details. Chivas Brothers faces strikes by its union workers next week, and there’s less than a month left before American whiskies face European import tariffs again.

Episode 1033: December 3, 2023

Northern Ireland’s Distilling Resurgence

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing… Read More

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing over the last century, but now, the six counties of Northern Ireland are bringing new life to their distilling heritage. We’ll visit several of the country’s distilleries on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Chivas Brothers faces holiday strikes by distillery and bottling plant workers, while UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has given the country’s distillers a break by freezing excise taxes.

Episode 1032: November 26, 2023

Balcones Distilling Celebrates 15 Years of Texas Whiskey

Balcones Distilling in Waco helped put Texas whiskey on the map when it opened in 2008, and this past weekend, the distillery marked it’s 15th… Read More

Balcones Distilling in Waco helped put Texas whiskey on the map when it opened in 2008, and this past weekend, the distillery marked it’s 15th anniversary with a rain-soaked party. We spent the weekend in Waco for the celebration, and sat down with longtime head distiller Jared Himstedt to get answers to some of your questions. In the news, whisky cask investment schemes in the UK are coming under scrutiny, while a charity auction to benefit victims of the recent Irish floods has raised nearly €35,000.

Episode 1029: November 5, 2023

Making Whiskey in the Music City

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery was once Tennessee’s largest distillery in pre-Prohibition times. The great-great-great grandsons of Charles Nelson revived the family business in downtown Nashville, and have been making Tennessee whiskey along with sourced Bourbons and now, a Rye Whiskey. The distillery underwent a major expansion recently, and we’ll talk with co-founder Andy Nelson on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, time is running short to avoid a return to Europe’s import tariffs on American whiskies, while a new Wild Turkey Bourbon features something different…three generations of Russells on the label.

Episode 1028: October 29, 2023

Signed, Sealed, & Delivered: A Look at Contract Distilling

What do you call a distillery with no brands of its own? A contract (or custom) distiller creates whiskies for its clients, and many of… Read More

What do you call a distillery with no brands of its own? A contract (or custom) distiller creates whiskies for its clients, and many of Kentucky’s largest distillers have often sold excess capacity by distilling for others. Bardstown Bourbon Company pioneered the current wave of contract distillers in Kentucky, and co-founder David Mandell is now one of the partners behind the new Whiskey House distillery. It will focus exclusively on custom distilling for its clients, and David Mandell will explain why on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Midleton Distillery’s brand-new visitors center is closed after this week’s flooding caused extensive damage, while time is running out to avoid a return to tariffs on exports of American whiskies to Europe.

Episode 1027: October 22, 2023

Babet Closes Midleton Distillery Visitor Experience

Powerful Storm Babet hit Ireland and forced Pernod-Ricard-owned Irish Distillers to temporarily shut their Midleton Distillery Experience visitor site after it was damaged by flooding from the nearby Owenacurra River Midleton town, located in County Cork, Ireland. Storm Babet moved on and is currently rampaging through the UK, bringing severe flooding to most of the […]

The post Babet Closes Midleton Distillery Visitor Experience first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Storm Babet moved on and is currently rampaging through the UK, bringing severe flooding to most of the area as the storm sweeps through.

Midleton Distillery – home to Irish whiskey brands including Jameson, Powers, Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare, Spot, and Method and Madness – invested in the visitor experience center and it was due to be completed by 2025.

The post Babet Closes Midleton Distillery Visitor Experience first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Midleton Distillery Shut Down by Flooding

Unprecedented flooding has forced the shutdown of Ireland’s largest distillery, the Irish Distillers facility at Midleton, County Cork. While the distillery itself is on a… Read More

Unprecedented flooding has forced the shutdown of Ireland’s largest distillery, the Irish Distillers facility at Midleton, County Cork. While the distillery itself is on a hill above the flooding and wasn’t damaged, the distillery has been shut for safety reasons.

However, the brand-new Midleton Distillery Experience visitors center suffered extensive damage, and is reported to be under one meter of water. Irish Distillers social media posts note that the Experience will be closed until further notice, and all previously scheduled tours in the coming days have been cancelled. The attraction opened September 30 after a multi-million dollar renovation, and was scheduled to host the Irish Whiskey Awards later this month. That ceremony has been postponed while organizers secure an alternative venue.

According to The Irish Independent, Storm Babet dumped a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours, flooding the town of Midleton and nearby villages along the River Dungourney. So far, no injuries have been reported, though businesses on Midleton’s high street remain under water as of Thursday evening.

WhiskyCast has reached out to Irish Distillers executives for more details on the extent of the damage, and this story will be updated with additional information as it becomes available.

Links: Irish Distillers

Brother’s Bond: A Bourbon “Bromance”

Actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder discovered their friendship and a mutual love of Bourbon on the set of “The Vampire Diaries” television series. Once the show ended, they decided to launch their own Bourbon brand, Brother’s Bond, and it’s become one of the fastest-growing new Bourbon brands on the market over the last 18 months. While Wesley’s acting career now has him portraying the iconic character of James T. Kirk on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” Somerhalder is practically a full-time whiskey blender. The Bourbon “brothers” join us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the Kentucky Bourbon Read More »

Actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder discovered their friendship and a mutual love of Bourbon on the set of “The Vampire Diaries” television series. Once the show ended, they decided to launch their own Bourbon brand, Brother’s Bond, and it’s become one of the fastest-growing new Bourbon brands on the market over the last 18 months. While Wesley’s acting career now has him portraying the iconic character of James T. Kirk on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” Somerhalder is practically a full-time whiskey blender. The Bourbon “brothers” join us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 has been unveiled, while the state’s Bourbon distillers are raising more than a million dollars to help Kentucky flooding victims through a series of auctions and special bottlings. We’ll also explain what “a fifth” means in whiskey terms on Behind the Label, too.

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Truffle Hunting for Whisky History (Episode 965: August 14, 2022)

Andrew Welford is described as a “truffle hunter” for whisky history, but his best find to date didn’t sell for a penny. In fact, he donated an original John Walker & Sons shares ledger from 1944 that he found on eBay to Diageo’s corporate archive in Scotland. We’ll talk with him and Isabel Graham-Youll of Whisky.Auction, who helped bring together the book with its new home. In the news, the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit auction to help the state’s flooding victims is underway with bidding already exceeding $250,000. We’ll have that story and much more, including a Major League Baseball team Read More »

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