The Whiskey Ring Podcast

This is one for the record books – I taste through four high-end brandies from Bhakta Spirits with none other than Raj Bhakta himself.

This is a different type of episode right from the start. Bhakta Spirits’ story comes out through the conversation, but it’s really about the spirits themselves. From a decades-old Armagnac and Calvados blend to a pair of century-and-a-half-old brandies, a single word emerges: quality. To put it bluntly, this shit is the real deal.

Bhakta Brandy

Bhakta Spirits

Bhakta Farms

Here’s the fun part: that decades-old Armagnac and Calvados blend? 80 bucks. 80 BUCKS. Can you imagine a 40-ish year old whiskey being less than 80 bucks per ounce, let alone for the full bottle? Come on now.

The brandies? Really, Armagnacs, but for ease of labeling they’re listed as brandies. Each batch is a single barrel with various vintages in it ranging from 1970 – already fifty-plus years old – to 1868. The first vintages in these bottles were distilled when Andrew Johnson was president and Ulysses S. Grant was elected. A few other things from that year:

• The Meiji Restoration begins in Japan, opening the country after centuries of insular policy.

Ok you get the point. ITS OLD. And it’s fucking fantastic.

Raj? He was a blast to taste through these with. You can tell how he relaxes through the episode and by the end we’re swapping tasting notes and ideas for finished American whiskies. I look forward to having him back on the pod in the future.

Finally – if you are in the financial position to become an investor in Bhakta Spirits or are interested in the Bhakta Spirits set mentioned in the episode, reach out at the links in the shownotes. There are only 30 or so spots left in the Revivalist Society, so don’t hesitate.

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community, now is the time: you can now support the site and podcast for as little as $1 a month, plus new and improved benefits for the $2.50 and $5 a month tiers including exclusive content, free glassware after 6 months, and more benefits as the group grows such as barrel picks, live events, and other things – the possibilities are endless. The first exclusive episode with Michter’s Master Distiller Emeritus Pam Heilmann is live now. Patreon subscribers will have access to the audio and video of this episode a full TWO MONTHS before the episode is released to the public.

Next up: The Whiskey Ring Podcast is looking for sponsors! If you’re a whiskey company, an accessory company, or subscription service, reach out to see how you can be a sponsor. There are only two more spots being opened for sponsors, so if you’re interested reach out asap.

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

Finally, please subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my tasting session with Raj Bhakta of Bhakta Spirits.

Bhakta 27-07 Review

Bhakta 50 #14 "Theobold" Review

Bhakta 50 #16 "Ulysses" Review

This is a turning point episode! Starting with Ep. 19, we're moving to an every week format, so tune in to this episode and be ready every Wednesday morning for a new drop!

This week I'm joined by Jesse Parker from Doc Swinson's and Distiller's Way. He and I talk through the entire Doc Swinson's line, including the 15 year, the Alter Ego releases, the core Blender's Cut, and the Exploratory Series - Mind, Body, and Soul. 

**GIVEAWAY ALERT**

Join the giveaway from Doc Swinson's and the Whiskey Ring Podcast! Click here for your chance to win two bottles of their whiskey, two branded glencairns, two branded hats, and some WRP swag, too. 

https://kingsumo.com/g/48cg1q/doc-swinsons-giveaway

Tasting notes to all the Doc Swinson's they were generous enough to send are below! (Give it a day if the links don't work for some reason...). As always, editorial control remains with me.

Blender's Cut Bourbon Review 

Doc Swinson’s Exploratory Cask Series: Mind, Body, And Soul

Socials:

Doc Swinson's Website

Doc Swinson's Facebook

Doc Swinson's Instagram

Hey folks, welcome to episode 18 of the Whiskey Ring Podcast! My guest for this episode is Michael Foglia from Wigle Whiskey in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

This is a fun one – Wigle is another off-the-wall distillery that loves to try something different. Go to their website and see how many expressions they have (or if you’re a Patreon subscriber and watching the video, see the wall behind Michael as we talk) then consider they’re only producing about 26,000 proof gallons a year.

A few quick notes: If you haven’t joined the Patreon community, now is the time: you can now support the site and podcast for as little as $1 a month. If you’re a distillery, an accessories company, or want to get your name out there, The Whiskey Ring Podcast has slots for two remaining sponsors – reach out today if you are interested!

Thank you for listening, supporting, and subscribing, and please enjoy my chat with Michael Foglia of Wigle Whiskey.

Hey folks, welcome to episode 17 of the Whiskey Ring Podcast! My guest for this episode is Stefan van Eycken, author of Whisky Rising: The Definitive Guide to the Finest Whiskies and Distillers of Japan.

The Nonjatta Blog

Stefan’s Whisky Magazine Profile

Stefan is simultaneously one of the most important writers on Japanese whisky and perhaps one of the most unknown on this side of the Pacific. He’s been in Japan since 2000, when you could find a bottle of Karuizawa on the shelf for pittance compared to today’s prices. For years, he wrote for and then took over the Nonjatta Japanese whisky blog.

I should note that Stefan doesn’t just write about Japanese whisky – he also writes for publications in Japan (and in Japanese) about other world whiskies including Scotch. Japanese whisky is just the point at which our mutual interests met. And trust me – if you like what you hear during this episode, please support Stefan by purchasing a copy of his book and by looking into his other writings. You won’t be disappointed.

Next up: The Whiskey Ring Podcast is looking for sponsors! If you’re a whiskey company, an accessory company, or subscription service, reach out to see how you can be a sponsor. There are only two more spots being opened for sponsors, so if you’re interested reach out asap.

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $1 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft, who are providing discount codes for Whiskey in my Wedding Ring followers and Whiskey Ring Podcast listeners.

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Stefan van Eycken.

Whisky Rising: The Definitive Guide to the Finest Whiskies and Distillers of Japan

The Nonjatta Blog

Stefan’s Whisky Magazine Profile

Hey folks, welcome to episode 16 of the Whiskey Ring Podcast! My guests for this episode are Paul McLaughlin, Martin Purvis, and William Hornaday of Kelvin Cooperage.

If you’ve listened to earlier episodes, you know I’ve been excited to bring on a cooperage – so much of what we all love about whiskey and other aged spirits comes from the barrel, up to 80% depending on who you listen to. But how often do you really think about how that barrel is made? Who’s making them? How are people trained to raise a barrel in just a few minutes that will last potentially decades of re-use? Is toasting a barrel a trend in whiskey or is it here to stay? All of these questions are asked in this fantastic episode.

I left the episode thinking my questions had been answered – a few weeks later, I’ve got another page full of them. So, Kelvin is the first cooperage on the podcast but likely not the last.

Big announcement via Patreon: you can now support the site and podcast for as little as $1 a month, plus new and improved benefits for the $2.50 and $5 a month tiers including exclusive content, free glassware after 6 months, and more benefits as the group grows such as barrel picks, live events, and other things – the possibilities are endless.

Next up: The Whiskey Ring Podcast is looking for sponsors! If you’re a whiskey company, an accessory company, or subscription service, reach out to see how you can be a sponsor. There are only two more spots being opened for sponsors, so if you’re interested reach out asap.

You can find Kelvin Cooperage online at kelvincooperage.com and in Louisville, Kentucky. Their socials are also included in the show notes so you can follow them and see the new things happening in the barrel-making world.

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $1 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft, who are providing discount codes for Whiskey in my Wedding Ring followers and Whiskey Ring Podcast listeners.

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts,Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Paul McLaughlin, Martin Purvis, and William Hornaday of Kelvin Cooperage.

Kelvin Cooperage Youtube: https://youtu.be/fF38BxIqxL0

Kelvin Cooperage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelvin_cooperage/

Kelvin Cooperage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelvincooperage1/

Hey folks, welcome to episode 15 of the Whiskey Ring Podcast! My guest for this episode is Miles Munroe of Westward Whiskey, based in Portland, Oregon.

This podcast marks a big turning point for the podcast and the site. First off, Westward is the first American Single Malt producer I’ve had on…I think…might have to check through the little notes but I’m pretty sure that’s right. Second, Westward sent a full bottle of their new cask strength single malt to taste and review before the episode. Take a look at the site or the shownotes for the full review – it’s a banger of a bottle.

Big announcement via Patreon: I’ve added a $1 a month option if you just want to help the site and podcast continue, plus new and improved benefits for the $2.50 and $5 a month tiers including exclusive content, free glassware after 6 months, and hopefully more benefits as the group grows.

Next up: The Whiskey Ring Podcast is looking for sponsors! If you’re a whiskey company, an accessory company, or subscription service, reach out to see how you can be a sponsor. Thank you to our current sponsors, Cairn Craft and Mash and Grape. There are only two more spots being opened for sponsors, so if you’re interested reach out asap.

You can find Westward Whiskey online at westwardwhiskey.com and in Portland, Oregon. Their socials are also included in the show notes so you can follow them and see when they’re coming to a retailer near you. The Cask Strength is dropping as this episode comes out, so grab one before they’re gone and thank me later.  

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $1 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft, who are providing discount codes for Whiskey in my Wedding Ring followers and Whiskey Ring Podcast listeners.

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Miles Munroe of Westward Whiskey.

Westward Cask Strength Single Malt Review: https://www.whiskeyinmyweddingring.com/reviews/westward-cask-strength-american-single-malt-whiskey

Westward Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westwardwhiskey

Westward Twitter: https://twitter.com/westwardwhiskey

Westward Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestwardWhiskey/

Episode 14! Welcome to the Whiskey Ring Podcast where we’re bringing you the people who make whiskey interesting. Joining me today is Adam Edwards, Digital Brand Ambassador for Rabbit Hole. Adam and I met during a virtual tasting almost exactly a year ago.

It’s a fun memory to reach back to – by this point a year ago, the website was just starting up, the podcast was still several months in the future, and I was ramping up my tasting notes in almost every way possible. I’d purchased my first glencairn, my third or fourth journal, started posting them online, started sharing samples with friends to try things I hadn’t tried yet. A year later I am fully and completely down the rabbit hole.

You can find Rabbit Hole online at rabbitholedistillery.com and on Whiskey Row, Jefferson Street, in Louisville, KY. Their socials are also included in the show notes so you can follow them and see when they’re coming to a retailer near you. You can also follow Adam on Instagram @bourbontuba for all the Rabbit Hole happenings.

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $2.50 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft, who are providing discount codes for Whiskey in my Wedding Ring followers and Whiskey Ring Podcast listeners.

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Adam Edwards from Rabbit Hole Distillery.

Lucky Episode 13! Welcome to the Whiskey Ring Podcast where we’re bringing you the people who make whiskey interesting.

Today’s podcast is with Stauning Whisky all the way from Denmark. I came across Stauning by accident, if I’m being honest, but was taken with their story and their process. Plus, it’s the first Danish whisky I’ve tried, so either way I had questions.

Joining me to answer those questions is Alex Munch, who co-founded Stauning along with eight friends (that’s nine total for those counting) in 2005. While not yet well-known in the US, Stauning is a legend in Denmark. What started as nine friends from disparate backgrounds (none of which were distilling, by the way), is now a massive enterprise nearing a million LPAs with backing from Diageo and Distill Ventures. You should seriously take a look at their site – the pictures are simply stunning.

As we all know, though, pretty pictures don’t mean good whisky. Stauning, however, has a great recommendation behind it. As he said on the podcast and also in a separate interview, Stauning’s meteoric rise coincided with the rise of New Nordic cuisine, heralded by such acclaimed chefs as Magnus Nilsson and Rene Redzepi. The latter chef’s restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen, features Stauning as the only whiskey on their menu. I can’t emphasize how cool that is to foodies who also enjoy whisky – it’s a perfect match. Plus, as much as Stauning’s whisky absolutely speaks for itself, having one of the best chefs in the world choose to exclusively serve your whisky is a hell of a mark of approval.

Stauning sent me samples of three of their whiskies ahead of the recording, and all of the tasting notes will be posted ahead of this coming out. As always, editorial control remains with me, but given what I’ve just said I think you know how those reviews will be.

You can find Stauning online at stauningwhisky.com, where they’re proudly presenting their Whisky Magazine Icons of Whisky award for Brand Innovator of the Year 2021. Their socials are also included in the show notes so you can follow them and see when they’re coming to a retailer near you.

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $2.50 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft. 

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Alex Munch from Stauning Whisky.

Stauning Whisky Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stauningwhisky

Stauning Whisky Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stauningwhisky/

Stauning Whisky Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/146325719@N03/albums

Tasting Notes

Stauning Floor-Malted Rye Review

Stauning Kaos Triple-Malted Whisky Review

Stauning Smoke Floor-Malted Single Malt Review

Episode 12! Welcome to the Whiskey Ring Podcast where we’re bringing you the people who make whiskey interesting. New tagline – let me know what you think of it.

Today, we’re going across the Great Lakes to visit Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I’m joined by Ross Salchow, a longtime employee whose title would never cover the range of work he does.  

Great Lakes was the first distillery I ever visited in person. Picture it: Milwaukee, 2016. I was on a business trip for the American Jesuit Colleges conference and had some free time to explore. I’d never been to Milwaukee, let alone Wisconsin, and with the Brewers out of town I decided to take an Uber over to this distillery.

Great Lakes is the first distillery in Wisconsin since Prohibition. When I visited five years ago, there were one or two whiskies, a few brandies from local products (including cherry), a regular gin and a barrel-aged gin. This was before I started doing tasting notes or had a collection of any kind, but I brought back bottles of the barrel-aged gin and cherry brandy because they were so damn good.

Since then, they’ve done nothing but grow. Absinthes, bourbons, single malts, gins, nothing is off limits for this team. As much product as possible is sourced from Wisconsin to keep the local flavor, and to their credit, when something can’t be sourced from WI (barley, for example, doesn’t take well to WI winters), they’re transparent about it coming from somewhere else.

Ross was probably there the day I visited. Hell, for all I can remember, he could’ve been my tour guide. He’s been there for many years now and knows the ins and outs of the place better than anyone. We chat about successes and failures, why their bottled-in-bond gin couldn’t be called that until last year, so many nitty gritty topics you won’t find anywhere else. I’m the first to say that I like craft, but not every craft distillery is ready. Count me in for saying that Great Lakes is here to stay and deserves a try.

I can’t wait to get back there and try more of their new products. In the meantime, you can visit them at greatlakesdistillery.com, @greatlakesdistillery on social media, and keep an eye out for their products as distribution grows. 

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $2.50 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft. 

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with Ross Salchow from Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Episode 11! Today, we’re going across the pond to the North of England and Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery. I’m joined by founder and Managing Director, David Thompson.

Dave is a farmer at heart, and Yorkshire is his garden. Yorkshire is the largest county in England by far and has ample space to grow grain and everything you need for distilling. And yet, like much of the rest of England, distilleries are few and far between compared to its Northern and Western neighbors.

I ask Dave why this is, what constitutes a “Yorkshire” style of whisky, if there is one, and what he and Spirit of Yorkshire bring to the table. The core answer and the most fascinating one is that they are, again, farmers at heart. Spirit of Yorkshire isn’t meant to be a global, shelf-filling enterprise – it’s meant to showcase what can be made with the local product and share it with those who will enjoy it. As their acreage grows, so will they, and not a second sooner.

Spirit of Yorkshire is a field-to-bottle operation, distilling their own home-grown barley. Keep in mind that this is the same barley that could be going to Scottish or Irish distillers – much of what’s distilled to the North and West is barley grown in mainland England, and yet there are conspicuously few distilleries where the barley is actually grown.

I love talking to distillers and producers right on the cusp of something big, and that’s exactly where Spirit of Yorkshire is. As we speak, new agreements with distributors in the US are being signed for their Filey Bay line to get to the US.

I’d also be remiss in not mentioning that Spirit of Yorkshire is a Jim Swan-connected project. The late Dr. Jim Swan, who passed away in 2017, was prolific. If you’re an American whiskey drinker, the most apt comparison might be Dave Pickerell, but with all due respect to the late Mr. Pickerell, Jim Swan’s influence reached as far as one possibly could in whiskey. Dr. Swan’s fingerprints remain on some of the most exciting distilleries around the world, from Yorkshire to Kavalan in Taiwan to Penderyn in Wales, India’s Amrut, and Kilchoman on Islay. He had influence in every major whiskey-producing country and many of the up-and-comers, too, with a signature style that was less about him and more about what the local style was or could be like.

So, does it make a difference to distill where the barley is grown? Well…to be honest, I’ll have to wait to find out. Not a long time, but just a little until distribution hits New York. I am very excited to do so and will be posting my tasting notes as soon as I can grab a bottle (or three). Until then, keep your sights on Spirit of Yorkshire, its methods, its expansive and informative website, and I’ll sit back and enjoy revisiting my medieval history years just a few hours from where the Vikings landed at Lindisfarne.

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

If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the site and the podcast. You can help out for as little as $2.50 a month on Patreon. Thank you also to our sponsors, Mash and Grape and Cairn Craft. 

Subscribe to the Whiskey Ring Podcast on your favorite podcast platform today! We're on Podbean, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms. Every subscription and listen helps us get sponsors, secure guests, and ultimately get more content to you.

Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with David Thompson, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery.