You've heard me talk about it before, barley is a complex grain that many distilleries dismiss. Yet don't tell the Scots, the Japanese, or the Irish that. Today we are going to dive in deep with a distillery that is digging into the science of barley, trying to completely understand it, so they can make the most amazing whiskies and elevate people's notion of this incredible grain.

Join me as I talk with Waterford Distillery's Head Brewer Neil Conway as he revisits many of the concepts we talked about during my visit last May and help you better understand the vision that builds upon what its owner was doing at Bruichladdich before coming to Ireland.

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with Chris Morris, Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve and we talked about his rise and the process of going from assistant under the legendary Lincoln Henderson to the Master Distiller role. 

Two weeks ago, my email box held a message that another assistant was getting that honor of moving up to the Master Distiller role and today, its my honor of chatting with the new face of distilling at Woodford Reserve, Elizabeth McCall. Join me as we find out about her journey to this position and where her focus will be going forward.

If you feel as confused about Canadian whisky as I do, Davin (who like me is writing a book on whisky history) is going to dig in deep and introduce us to the world up north. What is this 9.09% rule? Are Canadian rules more lax than U.S. rules? What's the deal with Canadian Prohibition? Can you travel to Canadian distilleries. And do Canadian's mandate no "e" in whisky?

Lots of insights in this episode. Enjoy!

It's not often I get to just sit back and chat with another podcaster about the whiskey industry. Today, that changes, as Irish whiskey podcaster Laurie O'Dwyer invites me in for a chat on his podcast and the two of us go over many of the interesting stories, whiskeys, and people of the Irish whiskey. Laurie cracks open a few bottles and you get a chance to eavesdrop in on our chat about great distilleries like Great Northern, Killowen, Midleton, Crolly, Echlinville, Slane, and more. Enjoy and happy New Year!

So much to chat about today as I talk with Chris Tetterton, VP of Marketing with RD1 Spirits - a Lexington, Kentucky brand that came out of the gate with the historic William Tarr brand. Chris will talk about the historic reference of their name RD1 Spirits and we'll get the scoop on a new distillery. Cheers!

This year I've been working to find whisky legacies in some very unfamiliar regions for the spirit. When Carpathian Whisky reached out to me about their single malt, I thought - well, this is definitely a chance to step into the unknown. Then, my guest Allan Anderson, distiller at Carpathian suddenly was tying his career into a bunch of different distilleries across Ireland and Scotland. Some fun discoveries in this episode. Cheers! Drew

It's that time of year again, when we start to think back on the best of the best from the past year. In today's episode, Allan Dwyer, president of the IWSA will go through the history of the organization from the early days, how he's seen Irish whiskey grow over the last decade, and then will fill us in on how we can vote for our favorite Irish whiskey of the year.

We'll also talk a bit about our experiences on the Irish whiskey trail and I've got a special offer for the holiday season for those wanting to grab a copy of my new book Whiskey Lore's Travel Guide to Experiencing Irish Whiskey. Slainte!

How often do you get a chance to meet the founder of a distillery while on a distillery tour? Well, that was my experience back in 2018 when I made my first whiskey tour of Kentucky and stopped in Kentucky Peerless on the west end of Whiskey Row in Louisville.

But Corky Taylor wasn't the first of his family to own a distillery. In fact, the Peerless name goes back to Henderson, Kentucky where his great grandfather Henry Kraver made a name for himself making Kentucky's special spirit. Hear the story of the original Kentucky Peerless and about the unique style of whiskey that Corky and his son Carson have brought back to the Bluegrass state. Plus we'll learn the origins of a feline princess and find out what rock stars Corky used to share a dormroom with.

This is a distillery I've long wanted to cover on the podcast. After traveling to Campbeltown, I fell in love with the place and its distilling history. And one of two distilleries that survived the collapse of the Whisky Capital of the World was Springbank - and today, it is still owned by the same family that was there during the heyday.

I'll visit with Melanie Stranger, who will fill in some of Springbank's history, talk about the relationship to Glengyle (Kilkerran), and reveal the reason Springbank is so hard to find these days.

Join me as I chat Donegal distilling history, discuss the idea of smoky whiskey and how the myths around scotch and Irish whiskey developed with James Doherty. James is the Founder of the Sliabh Liag Distillers’ Ardara Distillery, the producer of Silkie, one of the new breeds of Irish Whiskeys hitting your local whiskey retailer.

The land of illicit spirits, Ardara breaks that trend with their brand new distillery. We'll talk about peat (or turf) as it is called in Ireland, discuss why Donegal may have gone the direction of illegal distillation, taste Midnight Silkie, and discuss tours and visiting Donegal's 3 new distilleries.