Whisky Buzz

High West Distillery has won over the hearts of many whisky enthusiasts for their delicious unique whiskies and the policy of being open about their products. We interview David Perkins of High West. In contrast, Jeff Quint is the owner and operator of Cedar Ridge Distillery. Cedar Ridge is expanding throughout the US and growing in demand with their premium whisky, and they make every drop they sell. Mark and Jamie also talk about the weather, airshows, and marathons.

This week, Mark and Jamie talk about Tales of the Cocktail, Diageo’s decision to remove the Masters of Whisky program, and Matthew McConaughey taking Jamie’s spotlight.

Curious about the math behind whisky reviews? This week on the podcast, Mark and Jamie interview Eric from WhiskyAnalsysis.com. Eric uses the “meta reviewer” concept on his website, where he collects whisky scores from various reviewers and provides an overall ranking. Other topics covered include whisky changing in the bottle, Jim Murray’s reviews, and various challenges for whisky reviewers.

Dr Don Livermore joins Mark and Jamie to quiz them on their whisky knowledge! Dr Don Livermore is the master blender for J.P. Wiser’s (includes J.P. Wiser’s, Lot 40, Gooderham & Worts 4 Grain). Topics include the role of the master blender, wood extraction, and the history of Canadian whisky.

This week on The Whisky Topic, Mark and Jamie discuss Canadian whisky, whisky ratings, and share Mark’s plans for July 12th (Shhh, he’s eloping with Nicole)!

Gary Gillman joins Jamie and Mark to discuss the history of making bourbon, particularly with a focus on the sour mash. When researching the roots of hand-made sour mash, Gary found documents from the 1800s and 1900s that revealed the changes in the process overall.

Maggie Kimberl joins Mark and Jamie to take us back to Louisville. Topics touched on include the history of bourbon in Kentucky, cigar and whisky pairings, tourism in Kentucky, and best places to visit while in Kentucky.

This week on The Whisky Topic, Jennifer Chan joins Jamie and Mark to discuss the enthusiasts whisky tasting Mark hosted. Listen to hear whisky fans analyze whisky as they tasted them blindly. Jamie gets to be the teacher looking through everyone’s answers!

Deconstructing whisky is the process by which we take the blends of barrels that go into the final product, and taste each individually. Each barrel adds its own character to the final product. This week, Mark and Jamie have Beth Havers of Glenfiddich on the podcast to deconstruct Glenfiddich 15 Solera Edition.