Episode 505: November 8, 2014

This episode marks the end of our 9th year, and we’ll hear from two of the more outspoken voices in the whisky world on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. Simon and Phil Thompson run the family-owned Dornoch Castle Hotel in the Scottish Highlands, and their hotel’s bar was named Scotland’s Whisky Bar of the Year this week by the Scottish Licensed Trade News. The Thompson brothers are almost as well-known for their opinions as their whisky selection, and they pulled no punches in a wide-ranging interview the other night in Dornoch. In the news, Diageo pulls the trigger on a swap of Bushmills for Don Julio Tequila, Glenfiddich goes retro with a new expression re-creating the one it pioneered in 1963, Pappy Fever hits epidemic status, and a Canadian liquor store pays the price for bargain-basement shelving.

Links: Dornoch Castle Hotel | Bushmills | Diageo | Tullamore Dew | Glenfiddich | William Grant & Sons | Cincinnati Business Courier | Meta | Wemyss Malts | Isle of Arran | Bunnahahbain | Whistlepig Rye | CBC News | Ardshiel Hotel | The Ardmore | Nikka