Category: WhiskyCast Episodes

If there’s one thing that whisky teaches us, it’s patience. Australians Vanessa Wilton and David Whittaker have learned that lesson over the last four years since they opened the Manly Spirits Company distillery in the Sydney-area beach resort of Manly. They had planned to release their first single malt whisky late last year, but of course, the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns delayed that plan. The Sydney area is back in lockdown again, but they’ve decided to go ahead and release that first whisky through a ballot that opens this week. I talked with Vanessa and David during a trip to Australia two years ago, and decided to wait until their first whisky was ready to share the interview with you. In the news, Jack Daniel’s is doing something it hasn’t done since Jack Daniel himself was alive…release a whiskey with an age statement. We have the details, along with an update on events being affected by the pandemic and the rest of the week’s whisky news.

Links: Manly Spirits | MaltStock | Bourbon Women | Scotch Whisky Association | Jack Daniel’s | Sagamore Spirit | Michter’s | Rabbit Hole | Glenfiddich | Fettercairn | Highland Park | Tamdhu | Bonhams | Daily Mail | Rampur | Paul John | Amrut | Diageo

Everyone has questions about whisky. Dr. Nick Morgan knows more about whisky than most people, and his second pandemic-era book has just been published in a partnership with The Whisky Exchange. Everything You Need to Know About Whisky (but are too afraid to ask) answers many of those questions. We’ll talk with Nick about his new book, along with his recent Master of Malt blog column on the role some Scotch Whisky makers played in the rise of Japanese whiskies. In the news, Beam Suntory is entering the direct-to-consumer whisky business, while Beam’s Freddie Noe has written a new chapter in his Little Book series of whiskies. There’s also a new chapter in the Parker’s Heritage Collection series of whiskies, while a couple of upstarts are starting their own histories in the whiskey world.

Links: Everything You Need to Know About Whisky at The Whisky Exchange | Amazon | Master of Malt Blog | Barreled & Boxed | Little Book | Parker’s Heritage Collection | Barrell Bourbon | The Dalmore | Compass Box | Connacht Whiskey Co. | Keeper’s Heart Whiskey | Five Trail Whiskey | Irish Examiner | West Cork Distillers | The Sun | Dewar’s | J. Rieger & Co. | dekantā | The Last Drop

When you drink a glass of whisky, spare a thought for the lonely Quercus Alba. Without the thousands of American White Oak trees harvested every year, we wouldn’t have Bourbon or most other whiskies, since Bourbon barrels wind up at distilleries all over the world. Kentucky claims to make 95% of the world’s Bourbon, so one might think the Commonwealth would honor that with its choice for the state’s official tree…but no. Lexington-based forestry scientist Tom Kimmerer and some of his colleagues want to change that, and are starting a campaign to persuade state lawmakers to replace the yellow poplar with a much more popular (and logical) choice. We’ll talk with Tom on WhiskyCast In-Depth about the logical reasons for choosing the White Oak, along with his op-ed column last week in the Lexington Herald-Leader on how Kentucky could become a destination for “climate change refugees” escaping coastal communities.

In the news, the big mystery in whisky circles is what happened to a $5,800 bottle of Japanese whisky given as a gift to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo two years ago. State Department investigators are trying to find out, and we’ll hear from Pompeo himself…who says he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a $58 bottle of whisky and a $5,800 bottle.

Links: Kimmerer.com | Lexington Herald-Leader | Glengoyne | New Orleans Bourbon Festival | Whisky Auctioneer | Gordon & MacPhail | Prima & Ultima Collection | BenRiach | Old Fitzgerald | J. Rieger & Co. | Stranahan’s | Basil Hayden | Horse Soldier Bourbon | Lost Lantern Whiskey | Leopold Bros. Distilling

Jack Daniel’s is arguably America’s most well-known whiskey brand, but there’s a lot we don’t know about the history of Jack Daniel himself. The truth behind some of the mysteries around Jack Daniel’s went to the grave with him when he died 110 years ago, and historians have been trying to piece together the details for years. Nelson Eddy is the distillery’s official historian, and joins us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth to shed some light on those myths and misconceptions. In our Behind the Label segment, we’ll also get the definitive answer from Master Distiller Chris Fletcher to another widely-debated question: should Jack Daniel’s be considered a Bourbon? In the news, whisky lovers may think of a cocktail when they hear Manhattan, but that’s about to change with the opening of Manhattan’s first whisky distillery in 100 years. We’ll have that and much more on this week’s podcast!

Links: Jack Daniel’s | Great Jones Distilling Co. | Uncle Nearest | West Fork Whiskey Co. | Johnnie Walker Princes Street | Karuizawa Distillers | Suntory | Teeling Whiskey Company | New Liberty Distillery | Ruddell’s Mill Bourbon | Shibui Whisky | Bruichladdich