We'll close out the year with a look at a man fulfilling almost every guy's dream. Keith Wood is a transplanted Englishman in the heart of Munich, Germany, where beer is a passion. Earlier this year, Keith bought a bar in Munich's Schwabing neighborhood, and now The Arc has become one of Munich's best whisky bars. Also...an update on the experiment with a Whisky Works kit from Ontario's Premium Bottlers.

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EPISODE 124: DECEMBER 23, 2007

Jim McEwan and the guys at Bruichladdich don't really care what the rest of the whisky industry thinks of them. They do care greatly what whisky drinkers think, though...and the passion they share for great whisky leads them to try the unusual. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't...but there's no denying the passion in each bottle. Jim shares his outspoken views with us in this episode, and in the news, Whyte & Mackay buys back The Dalmore's US rights and we get a lesson on how not to beat the airport security guards.

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EPISODE 123: DECEMBER 16, 2007

Single malt scotches and Japan's single malts are a world apart in geography, and some might say the same applies to taste as well. This time around, we'll hear from the man behind Suntory's award-winning Yamazaki single malts, distillery manager Hiroyoshi "Mike" Miyamoto. Mike also has a history in Scotland, where he worked at Morrison Bowmore after Suntory purchased it in 1994. That gives him a unique perspective that few have on whiskies of the world.  In the news, new whiskies and more on the "Macallan 1856" saga.

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EPISODE 122: DECEMBER 9, 2007

You may want to introduce your non-whisky drinking friends to the "water of life" during the holidays, but sometimes it takes a little something extra to get them to try it. We'll take a look at whisky-based cocktails in this episode with veteran mixologist Bobby Gleason and the winner of Whisky Live Toronto's bar chefs competition, Shona Jensen. In the news, 10,000 bottles of Bowmore have been stolen in England, Dewar's starts a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Prohibition's repeal, and the Christie's auction of rare whiskies and spirits in New York brings in more than $300,000.

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EPISODE 121: DECEMBER 2, 2007

The results are in from this year's Malt Maniacs Whisky Awards, and we'll get a rundown on the top award-winners from Malt Maniac Davin de Kergommeaux. In the news, Isle of Jura is phasing out its 21-year-old single malt, Ian Macleod strikes a deal to export Chieftain's Choice malts to the US, Christie's pulls a suspect 1856 Macallan from next week's auction in New York, and Ian Buxton debuts the Whisky Channel online community.

Listen to this episode (20:00, 8.1 MB)