Whiskey Lore®: The Interviews

From upstairs at the historic Peabody Hotel, I talk with Shelby County Historian Jimmy Rout about the surprising history of Beale Street, W.C. Handy, "Boss" Crump's mafia like rule over the city, the Tennessee Ouster Law, and Juke Joints and hangouts like Pee Wee's Saloon.

We'll also dive into the lore surrounding the city's founding in Belle's Tavern. From Handy to Elvis to today, we'll investigate the whiskey past of Memphis.

Blue Note Bourbon is quickly spreading across the country and a few months ago, I had a chance to walk the warehouses at B.R. Distilling and chat with McCauley Williams - a lawyer turned whiskey brand owner.

In this interview, we chat about hist the transition from the law, how he created Blue Note Juke Joint and Riverset Rye, his long term philosopy, Memphis history, BBQ and the blues.

Royce is an 11th generation distiller with roots going back to back in Ireland. But many of the in-between years were based in Moonshine and if you head to the distillery, you'll see a lot of that moonshining history including a video about the feud between the Allens and the Neeleys that rivaled the Hatfields and McCoys.

Royce brings the creative processes of his ancestors to distilling including triple pot distillation, the use of sweet mash, and the capturing of wild yeast. It is distilling the old way and we'll talk all about it.

Who was this man who talked George Washington into the distilling business?

Scotsman James Anderson is a fascinating character and one that master distiller Steve Bashore hopes to keep learning more about (and he already knows quite a bit).

In this episode, we'll talk about the similarities in Anderson and Bashore's jobs, the art of retelling history through a distillery, and I'll get to taste rye and single malt whiskey made in the 18th century tradition.

How hard was it, making whiskey in the 18th century? There is actually a place you can go to find out.

Thanks to Mount Vernon, director of historic trades and master distiller Steve Bashore, and a cast of all-stars from all over the distilling world, we can see for ourselves.

Join me as Steve and I walk through the historically accurate recreation of George Washington's distillery at Mount Vernon. We'll chat about distilling techniques and recreating history.

When it comes to whiskey, George Washington is an interesting character. He had just seen his countrymen up in arms over Alexander Hamilton's whiskey tax and then he got into business with his Scottish farm manager - making whiskey of his own.

How did this happen?

Listen as I chat with Dr. Jim Ambuske, host of the Conversations at the Washington Library podcast and Jeanette Patrick, a researcher at the library. The answers will be revealed.

Ready to take a deep dive into a very unique Texas distillery? Back in March of 2020, I sat down with Robert Likarish of Ironroot to talk about what got his family involved in whiskey, their inspiration - a man named T.V. Munson who was known as The Grape Man of Texas, Cognac, shoo fly flasks, pot stills, that cheese note in whiskey, and the story behind Texas Legation and the Jim Bowie still.

Plus I will taste several whiskeys including a peated corn whiskey and Irish style whiskey and all from Denison, TX.

When Lori's team approached me about doing an interview and sent me a bottle of Country Smooth, I noticed that the bottle referred to her as the first female founder of an American whiskey brand.

My jaw almost dropped to the floor. Seriously? This can't be true.

Well, being a stickler for accuracy, I researched and was amazed at what I found. In this interview, I'll get more of Lori's experience in a very male dominated industry and get a sense of her mission for the brand and the legacy she wants to leave.

When we're talking legendary distilling families, you can't get bigger in bourbon than the Beams. But another great legacy belongs to the Dants and my guest Steve Beam and his brother Paul are descendants of both families.

In this episode we'll talk about a brand that has ties to both families, Yellowstone bourbon. We'll also find connections with Early Times, Makers Mark and many other legacy brands. And I'll find out how the brothers made their way into craft distilling years before the boom.

What many of us know about Virginia City, Nevada and the saloon scene comes from the depiction of "The Bucket of Blood" saloon in the TV show Bonanza. But is that really what the saloons of the Old West really like?

In the Whiskey Lore episodes on Virginia City, we find out this was no one saloon town. In my interview with local historian Ron Gallagher, we learn more about the Comstock, the saloons, and life before and after Bonanza.