The tiny Holyrood Distillery in Edinburgh shocked the whisky world when it was named Distillery of the Year last week in Whisky Magazine’s Scottish Icons of Whisky Awards. Less shocking was Holyrood’s Embra single malt, which took top honors for Lowlands no-age-statement single malts in the World Whiskies Awards. We’ll talk with Holyrood co-founder Rob Carpenter about this unique distillery on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. There’s a lot of news this week, starting with the TTB’s decision to enact an official definition for American Single Malts…we’ll have all the details and the rest of the week’s whisky news, too.

Waterford Distillery founder Mark Reynier isn’t giving up on his dream, even though the distillery went into receivership last week. As he tells us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, he’s putting together an investor group to bid on Waterford’s assets when they go up for auction in January. We’ll talk with Reynier about Waterford’s failure and where things went wrong on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Brown-Forman is taking pre-emptive steps to guard against the impact of potential trade tariffs, while Chivas Brothers has filed for planning permission to build a distillery on Islay. We’ll also have details on the latest holiday whisky releases and much more. 

Actors Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley have released their latest edition of Brother’s Bond Bourbon, a 7-year-old Bottled in Bond whiskey. It’s a release that shows the two are serious about their whiskies, and not just slapping their names on a bottle. We’ll talk with Paul and Ian on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. It’s been a troubling week for the whisky industry with the bankruptcy of Kentucky Owl parent company Stoli Group USA and the collapse of Ireland’s Waterford Distillery, and we’ll have the details on both, along with President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, which could include Canadian whisky and Tequila. 

It’s time for our annual trip to the New Brunswick Spirits Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This year, the legendary Scottish bard Robin Laing was on hand, and we’ll catch up with him on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. We’ll also talk with festival founder and chairman Frank Scott, longtime master distiller Alan Winchester, and have more highlights from the week in Fredericton. In the news, Suntory Global Spirits is moving its Irish Whiskey bottling operations out of Ireland, while Diageo has called time on a Crown Royal distillery project in Canada. 

Many craft distilleries that came to life in the early 2010’s are marking their 10th anniversaries, and this weekend, the folks at Ironroot Republic Distilling in Denison, Texas celebrated their anniversary. The Likarish family founded Ironroot Republic after Robert Likarish decided that he didn’t want to practice law in his final year of law school, and his brother Jonathan gave up a career designing medical equipment to become Ironroot Republic’s head distiller and blender. We’ll talk with Jonathan Likarish on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Diageo opens a distillery in China, while an Indian distiller plans to open a distillery in Scotland. 

While politicians in Scotland debate a potential ban on the harvesting of peat, author Mike Billett writes of the undeniable ties between peat and whisky. In his new book “Peat and Whisky: The Unbreakable Bond,” the peatland scientist explores Scotland’s peat bogs, healthy and not so healthy, and how whisky companies are helping to restore damaged peatlands back to health. Mike Billett joins us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, whisky industry leaders are worried about the results of Tuesday’s U.S. election and the potential for new tariffs in a second Trump Administration. 

This week, Ardbeg and Glenmorangie’s Dr. Bill Lumsden joins us to answer your questions posed in the WhiskyCast Community app. The questions ranged from why the new Ardbeg 17 is chill-filtered and bottled at 40% ABV to what it was like working with Beyoncé on her new SirDavis Whisky. We’ll have Bill’s answers on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Scotch Whisky industry leaders are calling this week’s UK excise tax hike a “betrayal” and a “kick in the teeth” — and we’ll hear from Scotch Whisky Association CEO Mark Kent, who’s also worried about the potential impacts of this week’s US presidential election on tariffs. We’ll also have the rest of the week’s news, tasting notes, and much more. 

Lost Lantern Whiskey took the Scotch Whiskey tradition of independent bottlers and applied it to American craft whiskies. Founders Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski weren’t the first independent bottlers of American whiskies, but their selections over the last four years represent an eclectic variety of whiskies from around the country. They’re about to release their Fall 2024 tranche of whiskies, all at or close to ten years old, and we’ll catch up with Nora and Adam on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, it’s budget week in the U-K, and Scotch Whisky makers will be watching closely for news of an excise tax cut. We’ll have the rest of the week’s whisky news as well, along with this week’s tasting notes and a look at so-called “vatted malts."

Ever wanted to find out how a spirits competition works? This week, we’ll take you inside the recent American Craft Spirits Association’s annual judging of craft spirits to show you how the judging process works. It only takes a couple of minutes for trained judges to assess a whisky’s aroma, flavor and finish and determine a score. In the news, American electoral politics could affect the price you pay for whiskies in the future, no matter where you live in the world. 

John Campbell has long been regarded as one of Scotland’s best distillers, but he shocked the whisky world this week by leaving Scotland to join the tiny Sespe Creek Distillery in Oxnard, California. He’ll explain why he’s making the move to distill Sespe Creek’s Warbringer Bourbon in his first interview since moving to California on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Sweden’s Mackmyra Distillery has been bought out of bankruptcy, while Diageo is looking at options for a new Talisker Distillery on the Isle of Skye.