The Whiskey Ring Podcast

It's a bit late - had a great event on Japanese whisky last night! 

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How much do you know about Finland? Yep, probably about the same I did. Not much. 

Turns out, there's a whole lot to learn. I started, oddly enough, with a well-timed episode of Timesuck learning about the sniper known as the White Death from the Winter War of WW2. Besides a fascinating story, it taught me that Finland is both Nordic and Scandinavian, yet its culture - everything from its mythology/pantheon to its drinking culture - are closer to Germany and Russia than to Sweden or Denmark. 

Teerenpeli is a symbol of that identity. Fiercely independent, making whisky where few others are (they're the only active distillery making whisky in Finland!), Teerenpeli is out to prove that Finland has a lot to offer the world whisky community. I think they just might. 

Thanks also to previous guest Fred Barnet of Anthem Imports for the introduction! 

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Anssi Pyysing, Founder of Teerenpeli Distillery. 

Teerenpeli Distillery

• Teerenpeli Distillery Website

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Roy Peter Clark - RPC, for short - is America's writing coach. He's written dozens of works, hundreds if not thousands of columns for multiple media outlets, and is considered the all-around go-to for concise writing. 

So why is he on my podcast? 

Simple: I write reviews. I read reviews. I critique others' writing and evaluate it as I'm reading. I know I'm far from infallible, so if someone can help me better understand public writing then I'm all for it. 

There's more to it than that, of course, and RPC and I have a fantastic conversation about living, writing, and writing for a living. It may not be my full-time job, but it is my full-time passion, and his new book, Tell It Like It Is: A Guide to Clear and Honest Writing, will help me write more concisely and more clearly going forward. 

I highly recommend both this episode and his book to anyone looking to write, period. You can order his book on Amazon here. 

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Roy Peter Clark, author of Tell It Like It Is, and recognized authority on clear and honest writing. 

Roy Peter Clark 

• Roy Peter Clark's Website

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Ever since I started my whisky journey, I've been fascinated by the art of the blend. Malt, grain, bourbon, rye, American, Scotch, Irish - when you get out of the box, there's so much you can do. 

Nobody embodies that in the Scotch world better than Compass Box. Founded in 2000 by American ex-pat John Glaser, the company initially struggled to get on a shelf. Twenty-three years later, Compass Box is, I would argue, putting out the same high-quality blends it always has - but now, their releases are must-taste events. 

John and his team have been doing interviews for all of those twenty-three years, so I had to come up with some new questions for this one. I love a challenge, and I think John was happy that someone took the time to do some research and ask something different. And when a legend - to me, at least - gives you an hour of their time, you make it worth it. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

_________________

Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s John Glaser, Founder and Head Whiskymaker at Compass Box Whisky. 

Compass Box Whisky

• Compass Box Whisky Website

Compass Box Whisky Reviews

• Compass Box Hedonism Blended Grain Scotch Whisky Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Our first ever Oceania episode! Join me for a 19-hour flight to New Zealand, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Towards the top of the North Island lies Pōkeno Distillery, a relative newcomer helmed by industry veteran Matt Johns.

The North Island of New Zealand is sub-tropical, with high humidity year-round, an unusual climate for whisky aging. And that whisky is spectacular. 

I'm a bit behind on getting reviews onto this, so stay tuned! But don't let that hold you back from a truly incredible distillery that I can't wait to explore more. 

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Matt Johns, Founder and Head Distiller of Pōkeno Distillery.

Pōkeno Distillery

• Pōkeno Distillery Website

Pōkeno Distillery Reviews

• Pōkeno Distillery Origin New Zealand Single Malt Whisky Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

I do a lot of research for each episode of the podcast - I don't want to ask anything that's been asked over and over. Often, that's listening to podcasts, reading interviews, anything that might spark an insightful question or a different angle. 

But what do you do when a distillery has their own podcast? What do you do when there's so much information out there and yet so much to ask? 

You start with one interview and go from there. We cover so many topics in this interview that it's hard to imagine another, but there are at least two or three more. A conversation about examining soil and terrain; another about grain varieties; perhaps another about how that incredibly complex cask mix became a background note to the terroir-driven experiments. 

Waterford is like those casks - incredibly complex yet so simple. A single idea branching into dozens of avenues, or dozens of ideas coalescing into a single thought: what if terroir could be proven? What if farm-to-farm terroir could be proven? Not only qualitatively but scientifically. What could be seen? What could be achieved? 

I'm rarely so outright flattering of a distillery, but in this case I truly am amazed and inspired by what Waterford is doing. If every distillery cared this much about their "thing," the world of whiskey would be a better place for it. 

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Mark Newton, Head of Brand at Waterford Distillery. 

Waterford Distillery

• Waterford Distillery Website

Waterford Distillery Reviews

• Waterford Whisky Heritage Hunter 1.1 Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Talnua Distillery in Colorado is quietly putting out some excellent single pot still whiskey in the Irish style. They follow the Irish Technical Files as far as possible, with only the "made in Ireland using Irish water" regulation unfulfilled. 

Founders Patrick and Meagan Miller discovered the Irish single pot still style on their honeymoon when, by chance, they were in Ireland when the first Redbreast Cask Strength in decades came to the market. Just a few years later, thousands of miles away, they'd found Talnua and dedicate it solely to that style - the single distillery making only that style in the US. There are other distilleries making single pot still whiskey, just none that are doing that and that alone. 

Talnua was generous enough to send a full lineup of their products for review, all of which are linked below. The big one? Their 2023 Olde Saint's Keep release. It went live for pre-sale on March 14th - if there are still some left, grab them before they're gone. You won't regret it. 

_________________

Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Patrick and Meagan Miller of Talnua Distillery. 

Talnua Distillery

• Talnua Distillery Website

Talnua Distillery Reviews

• Talnua Single Pot Still Whiskey Aged In Virgin White Oak Casks Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

This week, we're heading back to Texas! Down to San Antonio, where the Maverick family has roots stretching back to a decade before the Alamo. Dr. Ken Maverick, the owner and founder, is the eighth-generation Maverick in San Antonio. His ancestor might have been the last man to leave the Alamo alive, sent out to get help. 

Maverick Distilling is out to prove itself as a whiskey company that happens to be based in Texas, not a Texas Whiskey company. Not a short order for a family with such a vast and interesting history in the city. Dr. Ken's great-great-great-grandfather and grandmother were some of the first leaders of post-Texas-independence San Antonio, as her digitized memoirs and the town's own history makes clear. 

The conversation is fascinating - Dr. Ken is still practicing medicine while the distillery grows, there's a mistake-turned-good-thing in the triticale whiskey, a bank vault that was once the largest/most impenetrable west of the Mississippi that's now a specialized maturation area, and a barrel proof whiskey that, to be blunt, kicks ass. 

This is an exciting distillery - hope you enjoy!

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Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Dr. Ken Maverick of Maverick Distilling. 

Maverick Distilling

• Maverick Distilling Website

Maverick Distilling Reviews

• Samuel Maverick Private Reserve Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Surprise! For the first time, The Whiskey Ring Podcast is proud to bring you the inaugural interview for a brand! 

Triple Dog Irish Whiskey is officially launching TODAY after a soft launch in five states. And you're hearing about it first right here. This is a brand new Irish Whiskey, hailing from Great Northern Distillery just off the Cooley Mountains and in the wee county of the Irish Republic. 

Built from a grandfather's recipe (a real one!), Triple Dog Whiskey is aged six years in a variety of French oak casks. The founder, Dan O'Shevlin, is a man of many talents - biochemistry, entrepreneurship, quantum physics - but his passion for whiskey is tangible. I hope it comes across as much for you as it did for me in interviewing him. 

You can order via the website below to 41 states and counting - and keep track of the brand. There's more to come later this year!

_________________

Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Dan O'Shevlin of Triple Dog Whiskey. 

Triple Dog Irish Whiskey

• Triple Dog Irish Whiskey Website

Triple Dog Whiskey Review

• Coming Soon!

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

This week two Whiskey Ring Podcast veterans join me for an all-out chat about tasting panels, spirits competitions, and the stupid and not-so-stupid things producers will put in a competition. 

Here's the winning formula: use water you like, decide on number vs medal beforehand, and trust your palate more than the entrant - you might just know more than they do about their own product. 

Make sure to take a throwback listen to Monique on Episode 60 (all about Sherry) and Lauren on Episode 66 (Redwood Empire)!

_________________

Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Monique, Lauren, and I talking all about tasting panels and spirits competitions. 

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website

Liberty Pole Spirits - also known as Mingo Creek Distillery - is producing traditional-style bourbons and ryes with the spirit of the Whiskey Rebellion in its veins. Centered around the idea of a liberty pole, the only thing associated with the Rebellion that wasn't already copyrighted, according to founder Jim Hough.

Liberty Poles are symbols of dissent, freedom, and independence, dating back at least to the assassination of Julius Caesar. They were used heavily during revolutions and rebellions throughout the subsequent centuries, including the refusal to pay Hamilton's Whiskey Excise in the 1790s. 

Liberty Pole Spirits leans heavily into the history of the Rebellion and of what is now Washington County, PA (the name, understandably, came later) while incorporating some new themes into their whiskies (peat, anyone?) Between the Bassitt Town whiskey, aged as long as it took to get from Mingo Creek to Pittsburgh (about 12 hours by horse), peated and unpeated bourbons and ryes, and a healthy dose of history, Liberty Pole pays homage to the stories of those who came before. 

Plus, the whiskies are pretty damn good, too. 

_________________

Before we jump into the interview just a few quick notes:

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so! Only 5 Spots Remain in the Barrel Club.

• The $5 tier has access to the Patreon-only segment called “Under the Influencer”, where some of your favorite YouTubers/Instagrammers/Podcasters and more join me to talk whiskey, life, and influencing. This tier will also have priority access to upcoming barrel picks.

You can still support for as little as $1 a month if you’d like to stay up to date with these changes and news about what we’ve got coming up. 

Finally, please do like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening - it really helps the Whiskey Ring Podcast move up the rankings. 

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website. 

Thanks for reading! Now here’s Jim Hough of Liberty Pole Spirits. 

Liberty Pole Spirits

• Liberty Pole Spirits Website

Liberty Pole Spirits Reviews

• Liberty Pole Rye Whiskey Review

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, ImpEx Beverages

• https://impexbev.com

Thanks to our Sponsor, Scotch Malt Whisky Society

• SMWS Website