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Celebrating World Whisky Day

Episode 1005: May 21, 2023

Welcome to WhiskyCast…cask-strength conversation featuring news and interviews from the world of whisky…

I’m Mark Gillespie, and this is episode number 1005 for May 21, 2023…

Coming up in a few minutes…

BLAIR BOWMAN AUDIO

Saturday was World Whisky Day…it was created by Blair Bowman 12 years ago to celebrate whisky, and has truly become a worldwide phenomenon among whisky lovers…

Blair Bowman joins me later on WhiskyCast In-Depth to discuss the state of whisky, especially given recent moves by the Scottish government that could hurt the Scotch Whisky industry…

I’ll also have the What I’m Tasting This Week Department, our Community segment, Behind the Label, and more…

The news is next…on this week’s WhiskyCast…

News

Let’s get started with the news…

We’ll begin with an update on a story we first brought you in January…the legal tangles involving Justins’ House of Bourbon stores in Kentucky and Washington, DC…

The owners of Justins’ have reached a settlement with the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on allegations that their internet-only store in the District violated ABC rules…

According to Kentucky dot com, Justins’ agreed to pay a total of 3-thousand dollars in fines for failing to keep records on premises and interfering with an investigation by failing to produce those records within 48 hours…

The settlement dismissed the more serious charges of illegally transporting alcoholic beverages within the district and misuse of an off-premises storage facility. 

The D-C raids were part of a multi-state investigation that also included federal agents…it’s not known whether the investigation will lead to charges in other states, including Kentucky…where authorities seized numerous bottles of Bourbon and other items of evidence in January. 

I get asked occasionally how to get a job in the whisky industry…and now, the Scotch Whisky Association has launched a new website to help people do just that…the Spirited Careers site is a recruiting platform where SWA member companies can post job openings, while also showcasing potential career opportunities ranging from production to marketing and tourism..

We have a link to the website in the show notes for this episode at WhiskyCast dot com. 

Whyte and Mackay owner Emperador is investing 107 million dollars to increase production at its five distilleries in Scotland…the Philippines-based company told investors the move was needed to meet global demand…the company owns the Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn, and Tamnavuin malt distilleries and the Invergordon grain whisky distillery in Scotland…

The investment comes as Emperador reported strong sales growth during the first quarter of this year across all global markets…

One of America’s largest distillers is entering the American single malt market…Beam Suntory will be releasing Clermont Steep starting next month…

It’s a 100 percent malted barley whiskey made in the traditional Beam style using the family’s jug yeast and a column still…Master Distiller Freddie Noe also wanted to use new oak casks for maturation…

FREDDIE NOE AUDIO

Clermont Steep is five years old, and will carry a recommended retail price of 59-99 a bottle when it hits retail shelves in June…

By the way, we’re still waiting for the TTB to issue its final definition of American Single Malt Whiskey…that announcement could come any day now…

Also on the American whiskey front…Jack Daniel’s is adding a new Barrel Proof Rye to its Single Barrel Collection…single barrel barrel proof ryes have been available before, but this will be a permanent addition to the lineup…

It’ll sell for $59-99 a bottle, with bottling strength varying between 62-point-5 percent ABV and 72-point-5 percent ABV…definitely a hazmat bottling…

Other new whiskies announced around World Whisky Day…Redbreast is out with its annual Dream cask edition…master blender Billy Leighton and blender Dave McCabe picked a 27-year-old Bourbon cask and a 28-year-old Ruby Port cask to blend together…they then finished that blend for 3 months in two tawny port casks…

780 bottles will be available starting Monday through an online ballot for members of The Birdhouse, Redbreast’s online club…the price tag is 580 Euros a bottle…

Irish Distillers has also released the fourth edition in the Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection…it’s a 48-year-old Irish Whiskey distilled at the original Midleton Distillery before it closed in 1975…and comes from single pot still and grain whiskies laid down in 1973 by the late Max Crockett

Only 119 bottles will be available worldwide as Irish Distillers prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the original Midleton Distillery, which opened in 1825…

Royal Salute is adding to its Polo Collection range with a new 21-year-old Jodhpur Polo Edition…The whisky celebrates Jodhpur, India’s place as the birthplace of modern polo, and is available in limited amounts worldwide for 160 dollars a bottle…

Turns out retired Johnnie Waker master blender Jim Beveridge had one last expression in him…the Master’s Cut version of Johnnie Walker blends just two whiskies…grain from Cameronbridge with single malt whisky from Roseisle in Speyside…it’ll be available later this summer at the Johnnie Walker Princes Street experience in Edinburgh and select markets, with just 1-thousand bottles available…

Tomatin is out with a new 12 year old Cu Bocan single malt…the lightly peated whisky is matured in Caribbean Rum casks…it’s available at whisky shops worldwide with a recommended retail price of 65 pounds a bottle…

And GlenDronach is out with Batch 12 of its cask strength edition…it’s matured in a combination of PX and Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 58-point-2 percent ABV…

It’s available in the U-S for around 105 dollars a bottle. 

Rabbit Hole is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the release of Tenniel…it’s a blend of Cavehill, Rabbit Hole’s four grain triple malt Bourbon with Heigold, a high-rye double malt Bourbon…it gets its name from the artist John Tenniel, who did the original illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland…and 939 numbered decanters are available for a recommended retail price of 650 dollars each. 

Finally…the American Distilling Institute handed out its annual International Spirits Competition winners this week…

New Holland Spirits won the Best of Class whiskey award for its Dragon’s Milk Original Small Batch Bourbon, while the Cotswolds Distillery won the international award for its Bourbon Cask Single Malt whiskey…

In the separate category for sourced whiskies…Augusta Distillery won the domestic whisky award for its 15 year old Buckner’s Single Barrel Bourbon…while Aiko Importers won the international award for its World Whiskey Society Reserve Collection Japanese single malt. 

You can keep up on the latest whisky news all week long at WhiskyCast dot com…the news is brought to you by The Dalmore…

Events

Time now for our look at upcoming whisky events around the world…it’s brought to you by Writers’ Tears…

The Campbeltown Malts Festival kicks off Tuesday and runs through Friday in Campbeltown, Scotland…followed by the Islay Festival of Malt and Music…the Feis gets underway on Friday and runs through June 4th…

Whisky Live Canberra is this Friday and Saturday in Australia’s capital city…and the other Feis Ile…the Islay Whisky Festival is June 3rd in Melbourne, Australia…

Whisky X is June 8th in Atlanta, Georgia…and the Edinburgh Whisky Festival is on June 10th in Edinburgh, Scotland…

Finally, the Twisted tail in Philadelphia hosts “Dip and Sip” with Maker’s Mark on June 14th…

If you’re organizing a whisky event, please let us know about it and we’ll add it to the calendar at WhiskyCast dot com and in the WhiskyCast Community app…the calendar is brought to you by Writers’ Tears…

In-Depth

WhiskyCast In-Depth is brought to you by Mortlach and the Classic Malts lineup…

Saturday was World Whisky Day, a day to celebrate all things whisky-related around the world…it was the brainchild a dozen years ago of whisky writer and consultant Blair Bowman, who’s become known for his outspoken views on controversies affecting the Scotch Whisky industry…those controversies include Scotland’s delayed Deposit Return Scheme and an attempt earlier this year to push through severe marketing and advertising restrictions for whisky and other alcoholic beverages. 

I talked with Blair Bowman via Zoom on Friday…a day before World Whisky Day…

BOWMAN SEGMENT INTERVIEW

Thanks to Blair Bowman for spending some time with us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth…

Tasting Notes

Let’s start off the What I’m Tasting This Week Department with the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel barrel proof Rye I mentioned during the news…my sample was bottled at 68-point-6-5 percent ABV, and the nose is aromatic with baking spices, dark chocolate, red apples, and apricots. 

The taste is thick, chewy, and peppery with black pepper and cinnamon, touches of red apples, dark chocolate, and apricots that come out as the spices fade…the finish is long, dry, and spicy…

I’m scoring the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye a 94…

Next up, the Michter’s 10 year old Bourbon 2023 edition we mentioned last time around…I received a sample this week, and it’s bottled at 46-point-4 percent ABV…

The nose has notes of leather, tobacco, caramel, honey, and wood spices. 

The taste is thick and peppery with black pepper, clove, cinnamon, and touches of dark chocolate, honey, and brown sugar. 

The finish is long, dry, and spicy with lingering touches of black pepper and cinnamon. 

I’m scoring the Michter’s 10 year old Bourbon 2023 edition a 92…

Finally, Glenglassaugh’s 46 year old single malts matured in an ex-Bourbon cask and bottled at 41-point-9 percent ABV…

The nose has touches of tropical fruits with honey, papaya, cooked bananas, subtle spices, and a hint of oak. 

The taste is fruity with tropical notes of mango, papaya, and a nice bite of cinnamon that fades to reveal banana and honey notes. 

The finish is long and fruity with a hit of cinnamon.

I’m scoring the Glenglassaugh 46 year old a 95…

I’ll be adding these whiskies to our list of more than 34-hundred different whiskies at the WhiskyCast web site…

Community

Let’s take a look at some of the activity in the WhiskyCast Community app this week in our Community segment…it’s brought to you by Waterford Whisky…

Land Rover unveiled a special Defender Islay edition this week featuring wood trim from Kilchoman whisky barrels, and of course, there are the various Bowmore Aston Martin editions, The Glenturret’s special release with Jaguar a couple of years ago, and even the Jack Daniel’s McLaren special edition I mentioned a couple of weeks ago…

The question is…do tie-ups like those make you more or less likely to buy a specific whisky…

Doc Martin responded…I guess if I really loved the brand. I did buy the GOT scotch lineup based partly on my love for the show…

Iain Bruce added this…It is funny how we have distillers and brands wanting to showcase their achievements in developing greener technologies and becoming more sustainable, then connect with some motor themed brands. Would be class to see if they worked in tandem for a cleaner future.

Then there’s this comment from Tyrone Cotie:

For the most part I ignore these offerings as I am not their target market.  

Where is starts to impact my opinion of a brand is when they spend more time talking about “promotional” whiskies and less about what’s in the bottle.   

Bowmore is a brand (and a town ) that i grew to love.  However, little things like the way their marketing team overemphasized how aging in the No 1 warehouse by the sea impacted their flavour bothered me, in fact a good measure is matured on the mainland.  Next Bowmore began to spend a lot of time on premium priced and “auto” editions md it felt like they lost focus on selling a good quality whisky.

I will always have a soft spot for Bowmore but they are testing my patience.

and finally, this comment from Elias Aoude:

There’s usually no impact for me. If a whisky is good, and I can afford it, I’ll buy it. There are exceptions though. See: Connor McGregor and Proper Twelve. I don’t care for him so I’ll never buy anything supporting him.

If you’d like to join the discussion, download the new WhiskyCast Community app and join the 500-plus users who have already downloaded it and are discussing all things whisky-related…it’s available in the Apple and Google app stores right now…

our Community segment is presented by Waterford Whisky…

Behind the Label

Let’s wrap up the show now with Behind the Label…our look at the history, science, and people who make whisky unique…

Let’s talk about yeast…that mono-celled organism that’s responsible for taking the sugary wort in the distilling process and turning it into alcohol. 

It’s known by its Latin name saccharomyces cerevisiae, and it works by consuming the sugars in the wash and excreting ethanol molecules…

There isn’t just one type of distilling yeast, though…there are literally thousands of different strains…some distillers swear by their family’s jug yeast, handed down through generations of distillers.

Others settle for specific strains of lab-cultivate yeast designed to enhance certain flavors…for instance, Four Roses has five different strains of yeast it uses depending on which flavors master distiller Brent Elliott wants to emphasize in a certain batch of whisky…

Dr. Don Livermore’s Canadian Whisky flavor wheel highlights the different types of flavors yeast can produce in a whisky…fruity, floral, soapy, green grass, and sulfuric notes…

It’s not just the yeast that produces those notes, though…changes in the pH and oxygen levels of a wash or its temperature can affect the final flavors…

That’s why picking the right yeast strain is important…since barrels can only do so much to fix a problem with the distillate…

If you have something you’d like us to look at on an upcoming episode, just use the contact form at WhiskyCast dot com to get in touch with us…

MUSIC BED BEGINS

That’s all for this edition of WhiskyCast…

You’ll find links for the stories in this episode in our show notes at WhiskyCast dot com…that’s also where you’ll find the latest whisky news, my tasting notes, the calendar of events, the Whisky Photo of the Week, and of course, a complete archive of past episodes going all the way back to 2005…

Get in touch with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at WhiskyCast…or you can use the new WhiskyCast Community app…the email address is comments at WhiskyCast dot com.

WhiskyCast is a production of CaskStrength Media, copyright 2023, and comes to you from the charming, yet regrettably dry town of Haddonfield, New Jersey…

I’m Mark Gillespie, reminding you that when you drink, please drink responsibly…

Thanks for listening…