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New Era for Blended American Whisky

Episode 1004 for May 14, 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 1004 for May 14, 2023…

Coming up in a few minutes…

ARI SUSSMAN AUDIO

Don’t look now, but Blended American Whiskey is enjoying a renaissance of sorts…long derided as cheap whiskey blended with grain neutral spirits…blenders like Ari Sussman are taking advantage of the creativity the category offers…

I’ll talk with Ari Sussman later on WhiskyCast In-Depth…we’ll also have the What I’m Tasting This Week Department, our Community segment, Behind the Label, and much more…

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

News

Let’s get started with the news…it’s brought to you by The Dalmore…

We’ll start with a row in Australia…where distillers are up in arms over a couple of maverick drinks makers who are maturing their spirit up to 14 days and calling it “single malt.” 

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Victoria’s Mountain Distilling and Sydney-based Goodfradigbee Distillers are using the term to get around the law requiring whisky to be aged for at least two years…by using the term “single malt” in its place. 

The Excise Act 1901 has no definition for Single Malt, and Mountain Distilling co-founder Michael Harris told the Herald they quote “borrowed the terminology in order to provide customers with an association to a like product that they will understand.”

He wants the legal definition of whisky expanded to include new technology that allows spirit to be matured in days instead of years. 

The Australian Distillers Association is not pleased…and says single malt should only be used in reference to whisky.

Russian officials raided a factory producing fake Scotch whisky and other spirits this week…the Interior ministry claimed the raid netted thousands of bottles of fake Johnnie Walker Black Label and other spirits…

The country is under international trade sanctions because of the war in Ukraine, and Diageo is among the numerous companies that have stopped shipping products to Russia…

MGP has acquired the Penelope Bourbon brand for 105 million dollars…the owners of Penelope had been using MGP whiskey in their bottlings since they started the brand in 2018…

Analysts see the move as a way for MGP to build up its in-house brands like George Remus and Ezra Brooks…

And Texas is getting a new distillery…from a 114year old brewery…the Spoetzl Brewery is home to the legendary Shiner Beer…and the family-owned brewery has added an onsite distillery…

It’ll start off making vodka, gin, and moonshine…but will be laying down stocks of whiskey and other barrel-aged spirits for the future…

We have new whiskies to report on this week…including whiskies from a couple of breweries…

Lagunitas Brewing and California’s Griffo Distillery have teamed up on a special edition of “Still Waldos” single malt whiskey…they took unhopped Waldos Ale and infused it with hops before distilling it three years ago…it’s available only in California through the Griffo web site.

On the East Coast, Delaware’s Dogfish Head Brewing and Distilling is out with Alternate Takes Volume 4…it takes Dogfish Head’s standard American Single Malt and finishes it in a combination of Oloroso Sherry and Samuel Adams Utopias barrels that were used to barrel age the high-end beer…

It’s available in limited amounts in the mid-Atlantic region…no word on pricing…

Heaven Hill has released a new batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof…and Batch B523 is different from all of the previous batches in that it’s not at least 12 years old…

Heaven Hill has added an age statement to the bottle for this and all future batches…this edition is 11 years and 5 months old, but don’t look at this as a sign that Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is getting younger…Heaven Hill gave us a sneak preview of the September batch, which will be 13 years old.

I’ll have my tasting notes for it later on…

The Dalmore is out with its latest version of the King Alexander III travel retail exclusive single malt…as with the previous King Alexander editions, it’s the only six-cask finish single malt in the world.

The Drinks Business reports it’ll be available at airport shops starting in July…

Highland Park is out with its fourth Cask Strength release…this one uses first-fill ex-port wine hogsheads in the cask mix along with first-fill Sherry seasoned, ex-Bourbon, and refill casks. 

It’s available now through the Highland Park website and the distillery shop in Kirkwall, Orkney for 80 pounds a bottle…no word on U-S availability yet…

Douglas Laing and Company has unveiled this year’s Big Peat Feis Ile bottling…The Smokehouse Edition is finished in red wine casks, and is the first Big Peat expression to be finished in wine casks…it’ll be available at whisky shops in the U-K, Europe, and Asia with a recommended retail price of 65 pounds a bottle…

and with the Stanley Cup playoffs in full swing, Hockey Hall of Fame Chris Pronger and his brother Sean have teamed up with Niagara Falls Craft Distillers on a new Canadian whisky.

The JRNY is meant to signify the journeys we all go through…and carries Chris Pronger’s number 44 on the label.

It’s available starting this month in the St. Louis area for around 25 dollars a bottle. 

Finally…most of us are smart enough to not put whiskey on a burning fire…but that’s just what a golf foursome did recently…Golf Digest shared the online video of a burning golf bag in which the golfers tried to put out the fire with a flask full of whisky…

Needless to say, it didn’t work…and we have a link to the video of what not to do when your golf bag catches on fire in the show notes for this episode at WhiskyCast dot com…

Of course, that’s where you can keep up with the latest whisky news all week long, as well as in the WhiskyCast Community app…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…

Sagamore Spirit Distillery’s annual Whiskey on the Waterfront events return starting this Saturday, May 20th at the distillery in Baltimore, Maryland….Saturday also brings us The Whisky Show in Sydney, Australia and Distill America in Madison, Wisconsin. 

The Campbeltown Malts Festival takes place at Springbank and Glen Scotia distilleries May 23rd through the 26th, while the Islay Festival of Malt and Music gets underway on the 26th and runs through June 4th…

The other Islay Whisky Festival takes place on June 3rd in Melbourne, Australia…Whisky X Atlanta is on June 8th, and the Edinburgh Whisky Festival is June 10th in Edinburgh, Scotland…

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…

Blended American Whiskey is a segment of the market that’s long been dismissed by connoisseurs, largely because of the cheap whiskies blended with grain neutral spirits that dominate the category. 

But that category offers blenders a palette of options to choose from, including the ability to use whisky matured in used barrels…and blenders have been taking advantage of that flexibility to create some outstanding whiskies in recent years…

Ari Sussman is one of those blenders…he helped create Three Chord Bourbon, along with the new Whiskey JYPSI blend we mentioned in the news last time around. 

He’s also involved in a number of other projects…including a revival of Rosen Rye at one of its original sources on an island in the middle of Lake Michigan…

I talked with Ari Sussman on a Zoom call this week…

SUSSMAN INTERVIEW

Thanks to Ari Sussman for joining us this week on WhiskyCast In-Depth. 

Tasting Notes

Let’s start off with the Whiskey JYPSI blend we discussed with Ari Sussman. 

It’s a blend of 70 percent Indiana Bourbon, 21 percent vintage Canadian rye, and 9 percent Indiana malted barley…and bottled at 57-point-5 percent ABV…

The nose has touches of ground peppercorns, nutmeg, cherry wood, wood spices, and tree fruits. 

The taste is thick and oily with black pepper and cinnamon spices balanced by notes of cherries, vanilla, honey, and caramel that come out as the spices start to fade.

The finish is long and spicy with a nice underlying sweetness…

I’m scoring Whiskey JYPSI a 93…

Next up, the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch b523 that I mentioned during the news…it’s 11 years and 5 months old, and bottled at 62-point-1 percent ABV. 

The nose has touches of wood spices, caramel, honey, leather, pipe tobacco, and red apples.

The taste is peppery and intense with notes of black pepper and cinnamon, along with hints of honey, vanilla, black cherries, caramel apples, and charred oak.

The finish is long, dry, and spicy…and I’m scoring Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch B523 a 92…

Now, let’s look at the 2023 Talisker Distillers Edition release…it’s finished in Amoroso-seasoned American Oak casks and bottled at 45-point-8 percent ABV. 

The nose is dry and nutty with touches of hazelnut, walnut wood, honey, and vanilla.

The taste has a nice balance of spiciness and nuttiness with hazelnut and black pepper, a hint of clove, honey, and vanilla. 

The finish is long and dry with wood spices and oak tannins…

I’m scoring the 2023 Talisker Distillers Edition a 93…

For decades, Talisker was the only distillery on the Isle of Skye, but that changed a few years ago when Torabhaig Distillery opened…

Torabhaig’s Allt Gleann was the distillery’s second release…it’s bottled at 46 percent ABV, and the nose has a nice combination of smokiness and briny character with hints of smoked salmon, black tea with lemon, and a nice maltiness. 

The taste is thick and oily with a good touch of lemon pepper and allspice, smoked salmon, barley sugar, and a hint of honey with a slight smokiness.

The finish is long, tart, and slightly smoky…

I’m scoring the Torabhaig Allt Gleann single malt from the Isle of Skye a 93…

Community

Time now for our Community segment, featuring some of the highlights from this week in the WhiskyCast Community app along with the rest of social media…

First of all, special thanks to Rafael for posting a video of his visit to Pints Pub in Denver the other night…going to have to check it out the next time I’m out there…

Our poll this week comes from Willem Killian in South Africa…and it’s an intriguing question…if you had your choice, which would pique your interest most…a 50 to 60 year old whisky or a 10-year-old bottled in 1920.

79 percent of those answering in the app said the 10-year-old, and that was my pick as well…just to find out what whisky from a century ago tasted like…

21 percent picked the 50 to 60 year old whisky…

I shared the poll with our Twitter followers as well…and the results were almost the same…67 percent picked the 1920 whisky while 33 percent picked the older whisky.

Some of the comments…

Baz Dale responded on Twitter: Fortunate to get my hands on bottles of Black & White from the 1910’s, 1940’s & 1970’s. Surprisingly one of the 1910’s was the best. I had 2. One was high in the neck & the other was in the shoulder. The difference this made to the character & colour over time was huge.

and Benjamin Reed…at ranger rick added this…

Oh dang, this is a tough one. If I had to choose though, I think I’d rather taste what whisky was like pre- (or during??) prohibition. Aging does wonders, and I’ve had some spectacular old whiskies, but I’ve never had something that was straight up *bottled* a long time ago.

And Tonianne DeMaria…At sprezzatura Tweeted…

The historian in me wins out over the single-malt / Islay fan here. 

Wondering though, if you were intentional about framing it as “get your hands on” versus “try.”

Because there’s obviously no guarantee a spirit that old hasn’t lost some of its character.

Very true…but if I get my hands on a bottle like that, I’m sure going to try it…

If you have something you’d like to share with whisky lovers around the world, try downloading the new WhiskyCast Community app from the Apple or Google app stores…of course, you can always find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at WhiskyCast, and the email address is comments at WhiskyCast dot com…

Behind the Label

Let’s close out the show now with Behind the Label…our look at the history and science that makes whisky unique…

Many of us add a few drops of water to our whiskies to open up the aroma and flavor…but how much water is too much…

Researchers at Washington State University’s Department of Viticulture and Enology did a study to find the answer to just that question…their results were published in the journal Foods…and they found that adding the equivalent of 20 percent of the volume of whisky you have in your glass is the limit. 

For instance, a standard 1-point-5 ounce pour is equal to 44 milliliters, so you’d want to add no more than 8 milliliters of water to your dram

According to Washington State assistant professor Tom Collins, who led the research team, adding more than that causes the flavors to homogenize and taste the same…

Personally, I use an eyedropper and find that 5 precise drops works the best for me, but remember, it’s your whiskey…drink it however you’d like…

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 episode of WhiskyCast…you’ll find our free WhiskyCast Community app in the Apple and Google app stores…and you can always get in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at WhiskyCast…of course, email’s an option too…our 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…