This Week on WhiskyCast

Your Tax Dollars…Not at Work! (Episode 749: January 13, 2019)

The partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government is now the longest on record, and it is having an impact on the whisky business. Two whisky makers have whiskies ready to release in the U.S., but Jim Hough of Liberty Pole Spirits in Pennsylvania and Louise McGuane of Ireland’s Chapel Gate Whiskey Company are stuck because their federally mandated label approvals are being held in limbo until the shutdown ends. It’s a problem that is affecting a growing number of whisky makers, and we’ll have the story on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Islay’s newest distillery is days away from going into production, while Suntory is creating what may well be the first whisky blend spanning five countries for the Japanese market. The coming Lunar New Year is also bringing with it new whiskies, and a new study shows legalized cannabis sales may not be cannibalizing liquor sales as much as analysts feared.

Think You Know Bourbon? Here’s a Chance to Prove It! (Episode 748: January 6, 2019)

There are plenty of competitions to find the best whiskies, but what about competitions to find the best whisky tasters? Those are few and far between, but The Big Blind Bourbon Taste-Off will give whisky lovers a chance to test their skills later this month in Lexington, Kentucky. The winner gets $2,000 in cash, a barrel head trophy, and most of all…bragging rights. Daniel Marlowe of Lexington’s Whiskey Bear bar is one of the organizers, and we’ll discuss the competition on WhiskyCast In-Depth. There’s also a discount code in the podcast if you’re thinking of entering the competition. In the news, Sazerac continues its acquisition binge as it ups its stake in India’s John Distilleries, while Diageo’s distillery expansion plans in Scotland are working their way through the approval process along with Islay’s latest distillery project. The New Year also brings a handful of new whiskies, and we’ll share some of your New Year’s drams on Your Voice.

WhiskyCast Tasting Panel: An Evening With the Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends

When the Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends invited us to come to their city and lead a benefit tasting in honor of the 11 people killed in the October 27, 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, we didn’t hesitate. This episode was recorded at the tasting on November 26, 2018 in Pittsburgh, with all of the proceeds going to benefit the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in memory of the Tree of Life shooting victims. Dad’s Hat, Powers, Amrut importer Raj Sabharwal, and Liberty Pole Spirits donated the whiskies for the evening, and Christian Kahle won a raffle for one of the spots on our tasting panel. He joined Bobby Long and Scott Ritenbaugh from the Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends and public broadcasting personality Rick Seback to taste the Dad’s Hat Pre-Prohibition Style Pennsylvania Rye, Powers Three Swallow, Amrut Fusion, and Liberty Pole’s Peated Bourbon.

 WhiskyCast HD: Cleaning up Thousands of Bourbon Barrels at Barton 1792 Distillery

On June 22, 2018, half of Warehouse 30 collapsed at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, spilling around 9,000 barrels of whiskey. The rest of the warehouse collapsed on July 4 with another 9,000 barrels. Crews have been working since then to recover as many barrels – and as much Bourbon – as possible. The site is closed to reporters, but Sazerac has released a video and new images showing cleanup work at the warehouse site.

The holidays are a perfect time to share the joy…the joy of podcasts! There are millions of people who still don’t know what podcasts are or how to listen to them, and that’s where you can help. The best advertising of all is word of mouth – friends sharing recommendations with each other. As you’re spending the holidays with family and friends, please take a minute and show them how to use the podcast app on their smartphone or tablet to discover the world of free content out there. You might just change a life…or at least the drudgery of commuting to work! We’ve created a special message for our fellow podcasters to use on their shows to help spread this message, with two versions available to download as our way of helping the podcasting community. Version #1 mentions WhiskyCast, while Version #2 does not. Remember, friends help friends discover podcasts!

WhiskyCast has been around longer than any other whisky-focused podcast, and we’re now in our 14th year of podcasts! Twice each week, we bring you the latest whisky news, along with in-depth interviews, tasting notes, and much more. Each podcast features brand-new content, and unless there’s a special occasion, we don’t do “best of” shows. However, there will be times when we’re traveling or during the holidays when we’ll produce just one show during the week, and we’ll try to let you know ahead of time.

If you’re just discovering us for the first time, here’s a bit of our own story. WhiskyCast pioneered the genre of whisky-focused podcasts back in 2005, when most people had never heard of podcasting! Since then, we’ve produced hundreds of hours of original – and free – audio and video content for whisky lovers like you around the world. Our community spans the globe, and we’ve done stories on whiskies made in the far north of Scandinavia all the way to the tips of South Africa and Australia – and everywhere in between. We’ve met many of you at whisky festivals and while visiting distilleries, and hope to meet many more of you over time.

Please explore the website. We’ve collected all of our past episodes here, and post the latest whisky news as it happens – often several days before the next episode of WhiskyCast. All of our web content is free, including Mark Gillespie’s database of more than 2,400 tasting notes for whiskies from around the world and our calendar of upcoming whisky festivals and tastings.

We’re able to do this thanks to the support of our advertisers – both past and present. They advertise on WhiskyCast knowing that they will never have any say over our editorial content, and may even have their ads running next to features on their competitors. They recognize the importance of independent, fact-based journalism devoted to telling the stories of whisky in a creative, yet ethically sound way focused on helping you learn more about whisky.

Slainte!

The WhiskyCast Team

Whisky Photo of the Week

Water is essential to distilling, and this week’s photo features the lade that carries water from the burn next to Scotland’s Aberlour Distillery into the distillery for use.