Episode 504: November 1, 2014

The battle between Scotland’s illicit distillers and the excisemen known as “gaugers” is the stuff of which legends, books, and now, a movie have been made. Filmmaker Mike Dziennik’s “Peat Reek” will be shown this coming weekend at the Inverness Film Festival, and tells the story of a young gauger sent to the Highlands to shut down the whisky makers and the local minister who helps him see the light. We’ll talk with Mike Dziennik on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the Wall Street Journal reports Diageo may be close to trading Bushmills for control of the Don Julio tequila brand, Emperador closes its deal to buy Whyte & Mackay, Old Pulteney goes green with biomass power, and Fireball faces a firestorm in Scandinavia. This week’s tasting notes include The Balvenie’s new Tun 1509 Batch 1, Balblair’s 1999 Vintage Second Release, and what may well be one of the world’s worst whiskies – a herring cask-finished single malt!

Links: Peat Reek | Bushmills | Diageo | United Spirits | Whyte & Mackay | The Dalmore | The Glenlivet | Douglas Laing & Co. | Jim Beam | Disaronno | Fireball | Old Pulteney | Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible | Compass Box | The Balvenie | Balblair