A Green Fuel Source for Distillers?

Beam Suntory has successfully tested the use of green hydrogen as a fuel source for directly-firing stills, and is part of a pilot project to… Read More

Beam Suntory has successfully tested the use of green hydrogen as a fuel source for directly-firing stills, and is part of a pilot project to create a hydrogen conversion unit that could be deployed at remote distilleries. We’ll learn more about the potential of hydrogen as a fuel source for distillers on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Laphroaig is looking for a new manager, while R&B Distillers has received planning approval for a new distillery in Campbeltown, Scotland and Dr. Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie makes a surprising admission about this year’s Ardbeg Day release. 

Episode 1053: April 21, 2024

Links: Beam Suntory | Laphroaig | Isle of Raasay Distillery | McConnell’s Irish Whisky | Overholt Rye | Bulleit | Ardbeg | Glenmorangie | Royal Salute | Bladnoch | Cù Bòcan | Callington Mill Distillery | The Cabrach Distillery | American Craft Spirits Association | Dewar’s | New Riff Distilling | Hard Truth Distilling

Suntory Donates To Maui Fund

Suntory Holdings, which owns Japanese whisky brands such as Hakushu, Hibiki and Yamazaki, will donate $70,000 to the Maui Strong Fund, Hawai’i Community Foundation, as they continue relief efforts after the devastating wildfires which decimated the town of Lahaina earlier this month. Latest estimates put the number of people killed by the wildfires at 111 […]

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Suntory Holdings, which owns Japanese whisky brands such as Hakushu, Hibiki and Yamazaki, will donate $70,000 to the Maui Strong Fund, Hawai’i Community Foundation, as they continue relief efforts after the devastating wildfires which decimated the town of Lahaina earlier this month.

Latest estimates put the number of people killed by the wildfires at 111 but with hundreds of people still unaccounted for as rescue and recovery operations continue in Lahaina and around the island.

The island of Maui attracts the second largest number of tourists in Hawai’i every year.

The post Suntory Donates To Maui Fund first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

House Of Suntory Has Hakushu And Yamazaki 18 Year Olds For 100th Birthday

The House of Suntory has released both Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt and an 18-year-old Yamazaki whisky aged in mizunara oak casks as part of their 100th anniversary celebration – Suntory was founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii who started making whisky at the Yamazaki distillery, located near Kyoto in Japan. 50 years later, […]

The post House Of Suntory Has Hakushu And Yamazaki 18 Year Olds For 100th Birthday first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..

The House of Suntory has released both Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt and an 18-year-old Yamazaki whisky aged in mizunara oak casks as part of their 100th anniversary celebration – Suntory was founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii who started making whisky at the Yamazaki distillery, located near Kyoto in Japan. 50 years later, Keizo Saji founded the Hakushu distillery in 1973, located in Hokuto.

House of Suntory Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara is a limited edition whisky blend, aged in mizunara casks, bottled at 48% alcohol by volume [96 proof] and is said to offer notes of cinnamon, dark cherry, clove, coconut, nutmeg and peach.

House of Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt is a blend of malt whiskies all aged for a minimum of 18 years, matured in re-fill American oak cask, bottled at 48% alcohol by volume [96 proof] and is said to offer notes of acacia honey, grapefruit, green apple, pineapple and sage.

House of Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt is being made available for $1,585 per bottle while and House of Suntory Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara is being made available for $1,990 per bottle.

The post House Of Suntory Has Hakushu And Yamazaki 18 Year Olds For 100th Birthday first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..

Digging Into Scotland’s Whisky History

Thousands of illicit distilling sites exist around Scotland. Derek Alexander and his team of archaeologists at the National Trust for Scotland have barely scratched the… Read More

Thousands of illicit distilling sites exist around Scotland. Derek Alexander and his team of archaeologists at the National Trust for Scotland have barely scratched the surface of the country’s bothys, but their recent digs have uncovered some rare artifacts of illicit distilling’s past. We’ll catch up with Derek on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, The Balvenie’s longtime Malt Master, David Stewart, is standing down after 47 years in the post. The UK, Australia, and New Zealand all raised liquor taxes this week, and Suntory is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a “tiny house” tour of America. 

Episode 1016: August 6, 2023

Links: National Trust for Scotland | The Balvenie | Scotch Whisky Association | Heaven Hill | Watershed Distillery | Suntory Whisky | Legent Bourbon | Gordon & MacPhail | The Glenlivet | The Macallan | The Irishman | Douglas Laing & Co. | Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery | Hood River Distillers | High West | Hardin’s Creek

Photo courtesy National Trust for Scotland.

Suntory Anniversary Whiskies Highlight Week’s New Releases

Suntory is celebrating its 100th anniversary with two special releases: a Yamazaki 18-year-old single malt matured in Mizunara Oak casks and a peated Hakushu 18-year-old.… Read More

Suntory is celebrating its 100th anniversary with two special releases: a Yamazaki 18-year-old single malt matured in Mizunara Oak casks and a peated Hakushu 18-year-old. The Yamazaki will be priced at $1,500 per bottle, while the Hakushu will carry a $1,200 price tag. There will also be anniversary editions of the flagship Yamazaki and Hakushu 12-year-old whiskies with special labels to celebrate the anniversary.

Rod Stewart is launching his own blended Scotch whisky brand. Wolfie’s Whisky is being bottled by Loch Lomond Distillers. It goes on sale in June in the UK, Ireland, and Europe, with a U.S. launch planned for later this year.

Basketball star Steph Curry has teamed up with the Game Changer Distillery in Kentucky and Napa Valley winery owner John Schwartz to produce Gentlemen’s Cut Bourbon. It’ll be available worldwide with a recommended retail price of $79.99 a bottle.

Glengoyne has released its ninth batch of the Teapot Dram, named for the distillery’s teapot in which workers once shared their daily drams with their overnight colleagues. 

Back then, workers were given three drams a day of whisky from first-fill sherry casks, and the Teapot Dram continues that tradition. It’s matured in first-fill European and American Oak sherry casks and bottled at 58.9 percent ABV. It’s available at the Glengoyne distillery shop and web site for £140 a bottle. 

Glencadam Distillery has released a limited edition Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish using whisky distilled back in 2007. Reserva de Jerez is available in the UK and select European markets with a recommended retail price of £105 a bottle. 

Chattanooga Whiskey is out with the latest release in its Bottled in Bond series. The Spring 2019 Vintage features a blend of four different mashbills, including two high-malt mashbills. It’s available at the distillery and in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, and South Carolina with a recommended retail price of $52.99 a bottle.

Hotaling and Company has released the latest Hirsch Bourbon. The Single Barrel Double Oak has ben double barreled in new American Oak and finished in used oak barrels. It’s available in 15 U-S states with a recommended retail price of 99 dollars a bottle.

Kentucky’s New Riff Distilling has turned to heirloom corn strains for its two new releases. Yellow Leaming is distilled with what the distillery bills as the “granddaddy of yellow corn,” while Blue Clarage comes from a unique blue corn varietal. Both whiskies are five years old and bottled-in-bond. They are available at the distillery in Newport, Kentucky for $55.99 each. 

Missouri’s Holladay Distilling has also released a new bottled-in-bond Bourbon. Holldaay Soft Red Wheat Bourbon is distilled using Holladay’s traditional mashbill, except that the rye is replaced with soft red wheat. It also qualifies as a Missouri Bourbon under the state’s strict law that requires Bourbons carrying that label to not only be distilled, matured, and bottled within the state, but be matured in oak barrels manufactured in Missouri and made with corn grown exclusively in Missouri. 

Published May 29, 2023

Suntory Anniversary Whiskies Highlight Week’s New Releases

Suntory is celebrating its 100th anniversary with two special releases: a Yamazaki 18-year-old single malt matured in Mizunara Oak casks and a peated Hakushu 18-year-old.… Read More

Suntory is celebrating its 100th anniversary with two special releases: a Yamazaki 18-year-old single malt matured in Mizunara Oak casks and a peated Hakushu 18-year-old. The Yamazaki will be priced at $1,500 per bottle, while the Hakushu will carry a $1,200 price tag. There will also be anniversary editions of the flagship Yamazaki and Hakushu 12-year-old whiskies with special labels to celebrate the anniversary.

Rod Stewart is launching his own blended Scotch whisky brand. Wolfie’s Whisky is being bottled by Loch Lomond Distillers. It goes on sale in June in the UK, Ireland, and Europe, with a U.S. launch planned for later this year.

Basketball star Steph Curry has teamed up with the Game Changer Distillery in Kentucky and Napa Valley winery owner John Schwartz to produce Gentlemen’s Cut Bourbon. It’ll be available worldwide with a recommended retail price of $79.99 a bottle.

Glengoyne has released its ninth batch of the Teapot Dram, named for the distillery’s teapot in which workers once shared their daily drams with their overnight colleagues. 

Back then, workers were given three drams a day of whisky from first-fill sherry casks, and the Teapot Dram continues that tradition. It’s matured in first-fill European and American Oak sherry casks and bottled at 58.9 percent ABV. It’s available at the Glengoyne distillery shop and web site for £140 a bottle. 

Glencadam Distillery has released a limited edition Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish using whisky distilled back in 2007. Reserva de Jerez is available in the UK and select European markets with a recommended retail price of £105 a bottle. 

Chattanooga Whiskey is out with the latest release in its Bottled in Bond series. The Spring 2019 Vintage features a blend of four different mashbills, including two high-malt mashbills. It’s available at the distillery and in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, and South Carolina with a recommended retail price of $52.99 a bottle.

Hotaling and Company has released the latest Hirsch Bourbon. The Single Barrel Double Oak has ben double barreled in new American Oak and finished in used oak barrels. It’s available in 15 U-S states with a recommended retail price of 99 dollars a bottle.

Kentucky’s New Riff Distilling has turned to heirloom corn strains for its two new releases. Yellow Leaming is distilled with what the distillery bills as the “granddaddy of yellow corn,” while Blue Clarage comes from a unique blue corn varietal. Both whiskies are five years old and bottled-in-bond. They are available at the distillery in Newport, Kentucky for $55.99 each. 

Missouri’s Holladay Distilling has also released a new bottled-in-bond Bourbon. Holldaay Soft Red Wheat Bourbon is distilled using Holladay’s traditional mashbill, except that the rye is replaced with soft red wheat. It also qualifies as a Missouri Bourbon under the state’s strict law that requires Bourbons carrying that label to not only be distilled, matured, and bottled within the state, but be matured in oak barrels manufactured in Missouri and made with corn grown exclusively in Missouri. 

Published May 29, 2023

Another New Distillery for Campbeltown

At one time, Campbeltown was Scotland’s whisky capital with more than 35 distilleries. That number dwindled to just three over the years, but now, planning… Read More

At one time, Campbeltown was Scotland’s whisky capital with more than 35 distilleries. That number dwindled to just three over the years, but now, planning approval is being sought for up to three new distilleries. The latest project is the Witchburn Distillery to be built on the former RAF Macrihanish site, and we’ll talk with project manager and master distiller Andrew Nairn on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. We’ll also hear from Beam Suntory’s Daryl Haldane following the auction Friday of a one-of-a-kind Bowmore single malt to raise money for projects on Islay. In the news, Stirling Council has rejected plans for the proposed Wolfcraig Distillery for a second time, Scotch Whisky Association leaders continue their push to reserve an excise duty hike planned for August, and Jack Daniel’s lost a trademark infringement case in the U.K. to a pair of comedians.

Episode 1006: May 28, 2023

Links: Witchburn Distillery | Bowmore | Scotch Whisky Association | Jack Daniel’s | Wolfie’s Whisky | Gentleman’s Cut Bourbon | Suntory Whisky | Glengoyne | Glencadam | Chattanooga Whiskey | Hirsch Whiskey | Dràm Mòr | Rabbit Hole Distillery | New Riff Distilling | Holladay Distillery

Another New Distillery for Campbeltown

At one time, Campbeltown was Scotland’s whisky capital with more than 35 distilleries. That number dwindled to just three over the years, but now, planning… Read More

At one time, Campbeltown was Scotland’s whisky capital with more than 35 distilleries. That number dwindled to just three over the years, but now, planning approval is being sought for up to three new distilleries. The latest project is the Witchburn Distillery to be built on the former RAF Macrihanish site, and we’ll talk with project manager and master distiller Andrew Nairn on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. We’ll also hear from Beam Suntory’s Daryl Haldane following the auction Friday of a one-of-a-kind Bowmore single malt to raise money for projects on Islay. In the news, Stirling Council has rejected plans for the proposed Wolfcraig Distillery for a second time, Scotch Whisky Association leaders continue their push to reserve an excise duty hike planned for August, and Jack Daniel’s lost a trademark infringement case in the U.K. to a pair of comedians.

Episode 1006: May 28, 2023

Links: Witchburn Distillery | Bowmore | Scotch Whisky Association | Jack Daniel’s | Wolfie’s Whisky | Gentleman’s Cut Bourbon | Suntory Whisky | Glengoyne | Glencadam | Chattanooga Whiskey | Hirsch Whiskey | Dràm Mòr | Rabbit Hole Distillery | New Riff Distilling | Holladay Distillery