WhiskyCast

We'll start the New Year off with an anniversary...the 1oth anniversary for the New York Distilling Co. in Brooklyn's North Williamsburg neighborhood. Allen Katz and his partners opened their distillery in what was at the time a fairly run-down neighborhood, only to see gentrification take shape around them. As Allen discloses on WhiskyCast In-Depth for the first time, that's forcing them to make plans to move to a new location in the very near future both to expand production and comply with the city's pending changes to fire safety codes for distilleries. He'll also explain why they decided to focus almost exclusively on making rye whiskies, including a special 10th anniversary single barrel edition of Ragtime Rye selected by legendary bartender Dale DeGroff. In the news, Europe's tariffs on American whiskies are now officially suspended with the arrival of 2022, and U.S. distillers are jumping back into the European market. We'll get an update on construction plans for Penderyn's third distillery in Wales, and noted chef David Burke tells us about next week's Beef and Bourbon Dinners at nine of his restaurants to raise money for Western Kentucky tornado victims.

OK, the headline is a tease...of course Dr. Nick Savage is a whisky maker. In fact, he's been the master distiller and blender at Scotland's Bladnoch Distillery for the last couple of years. He's just created the latest three Bladnoch single malts, and joins us on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. Speaking of heroes, though...there are a lot of them in the whisky world, and many of them helped raise $3.4 million to help Kentucky tornado victims in the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit auction. We'll have the details in this week's news, along with a look at one of the groups behind the auction in our Behind the Label segment. It's our final episode for 2021, so pour a dram, relax, and enjoy this week's WhiskyCast!

There are plenty of collaborations between whisky makers and the entertainment world, from singers and bands to actors who want to make their own whiskies. What's the key to making one of these collaborations work? We'll find out from Balcones Distilling's Jared Himstedt, who just released the Tres Hombres Texas Whisky collaboration with the members of ZZ Top. We'll also taste several other "celebrity" whiskies in the What I'm Tasting This Week Department, too. In the news, bidding has already reached $1.6 million in the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit auction to raise money for Western Kentucky tornado victims! We'll have that story, along with the latest update on a new round of COVID-related lockdowns and whisky event changes, and on Behind the Label, the story of one man who found a way to turn his passion for whisky into a profit...without opening a single bottle.

Ian Buxton is back with another edition in his popular "101 Whiskies" series, "101 Craft and World Whiskies to Try Before You Die." This time, he's defining craft whiskies using a similar standard to the classic one for obscenity: "I know it when I see it." Of course, that's tongue-in-cheek, and as Ian points out on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth, the line gets blurrier all the time. In the news, Kentucky's whiskey community is coming together to help the victims of this weekend's deadly tornadoes, and we'll have the details on how you can join the relief effort, too. A Canadian cannabis company is entering the Bourbon business with high hopes for the future, and U.S. craft distillers are celebrating real growth in their business. In our Behind the Label segment, we'll look at the classic worm tub and why it's making a comeback at some of Scotland's distilleries.

John Campbell shocked the Scotch Whisky world a couple of months ago when he disclosed his plans to leave Islay's Laphroaig Distillery after 27 years, with the last 16 as distillery manager. At the time, he wouldn't say what his future plans were...but now, he's joined the young Lochlea Distillery as its production director and master blender. John's very first interview after confirming the move was with WhiskyCast, and you'll hear it on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth! In the news, Scotch Whisky distillers raised more than £2.5 million for organizations helping troubled Scottish youth with The Distillers: One of One auction Friday. We'll have the details, along with news on supply chain shortages affecting the whisky industry, plans for a new visitors centre at Ireland's Midleton Distillery, and a delay in expansion plans for another Irish distillery because of something a critic compared to "Rapunzel's Castle."

Bourbon is booming, and perhaps no distiller is riding the waves of the Bourbon boom more aggressively than Bardstown Bourbon Company. Over its first five years of production, it's expanded to the point where the distillery is now one of the ten largest distilleries in the United States and sought out by potential collaborators of all kinds. Those collaborators range from Hall of Fame distillers to winemakers, entrepreneurs, and musicians - including Brad Paisley's new "American Highway" Bourbon. The distillery's Dan Callaway joins us on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, there's a debate over who should be allowed to enforce standards for Irish Whiskey, while another British diplomat is leaving the world of foreign policy behind to join the Scotch Whisky Association.

The grain used to make many of today's whiskies isn't always picked for its flavor, but that's not the distiller's fault. Blame the commodity grain system, in which the largest grain customers determine what types of rye, corn, wheat, and barley are most widely planted by farmers. It's the Golden Rule, in which the one with the most gold gets to call the shots...and distillers aren't the ones with the most gold. Because of that, many grain types distillers would love to use are consigned to "heirloom" status or forgotten entirely. That's what happened to Rosen Rye, a strain prized for generations by Pennsylvania distillers that almost disappeared completely - until a small band of mavericks brought it back to life. Earlier this month, a team of craft distillers gathered at George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon to make a batch of Rosen Rye, and we'll have that story for you on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the whisky portfolio for South Africa's Distell Group is being split up in a merger with Heineken, while Pernod Ricard has fired up the stills at its first malt whisky distillery in China and another craft distiller is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Stock car racing got its start when illicit whiskey makers took their souped-up cars to the track after outrunning the police at night, but Tom and Kim Carter Bard have flipped the script on that story. While they still go racing, they're also making whiskey at The Bard Distillery, and if that name sounds familiar, it's because Tom's ancestors founded Bardstown, Kentucky two centuries ago...though the family never made a drop of whiskey until the Bards opened their distillery in Western Kentucky's Muhlenberg County. We'll talk with them on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth as we celebrate the 16th anniversary of whisky's longest-running podcast series!

Much has been written, and done, about the impact of Scotch Whisky production on climate change over the last decade. Much less has been written about the potential impacts of climate change to Scotch Whisky makers, from distillery water sources drying up in periods of drought to reduced crop yields for barley farmers. As world leaders are gathered in Glasgow for the UN's COP26 climate change summit, a new study by University College London researchers looks at those potential impacts. We'll talk with Carole Martin, one of the lead researchers, and Daniel Sherry of Glengoyne and Ian Macleod Distillers, which funded the study. In the news, there's finally an end in sight for the European Union's retaliatory import tariffs on American whiskies following this weekend's G-20 Summit in Rome. Diageo is breaking ground on its first malt whisky distillery in China, and Scotch Whisky industry leaders are looking warily at the UK Government's new plans for taxing whisky and other spirits starting in 2023. We'll have those stories, and in this week's Behind the Label segment, a look at how one American distillery makes the most of every drop of water it uses.

Northern California is known for its wines, but distillers have been quietly making excellent whiskies there for many years. Now, Sonoma County's Redwood Empire Distillery is releasing its first bottled in bond whiskies: Grizzly Beast Bourbon and Rocket Top Rye, named for some of California's legendary redwood trees. Distillers Jeff Duckhorn and Lauren Patz join us on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth along with CEO Aaron Webb. In the news, the Heaven Hill strike is over after six weeks, and you'll hear from the union leader who led 420 workers out on strike and back to work starting this week. We'll have the latest whisky news, tasting notes, and another comparison between wine and whisky in our Behind the Label segment.