Distillers on the Hill (Episode 778: July 28, 2019)

It takes a lot to drag distillers away from their stills, but when the stakes are as high as the current debate over extending a federal excise tax cut for craft distillers – that’s enough to put them on a plane for Washington. More than 150 distillers from around the country converged on Capitol Hill this week for the annual public policy conference sponsored by the Distilled Spirits Council and the American Craft Spirits Association. It also gave them a chance to put some pressure on their representatives in Congress to extend that tax break currently scheduled to expire at the end of this year. We’ll talk with ACSA President Chris Montana of Du Nord Craft Spirits in Minneapolis and several of his colleagues about the politics of making whiskey on WhiskyCast In-Depth.

In the news, Diageo now faces strike votes by both unions representing workers at its distilleries and bottling plants in Scotland following a breakdown in contract talks. Beam Suntory is reviving an old name for its flagship Jim Beam Distillery in Kentucky as part of a $60 million dollar expansion plan that will include a new craft distillery named for master distiller Fred Noe. We also have a bunch of new whiskies to talk about, and we’ll also look at whether it’s possible to distill whisky in space on Behind the Label.

Links: Distilled Spirits Council | American Craft Spirits Association | Diageo  | Unite | GMB | Beam Suntory | Woodford Reserve | Heaven Hill | Classic Malts | Johnnie Walker | Writers’ Tears | Uncle Nearest | Laws Whiskey House | Talnua Distillery | Wood’s High Mountain Distillery | Huber’s Starlight Distillery | Du Nord Craft Spirits | Laphroaig | Oregon Spirit Distillers