I share a story… When my grandfather was laid to rest, and the first conversation my family and I had about him was his service. My uncles, my cousins and I passed around a bottle of Woodford Reserve, and as the bottle emptied, our hearts were grew more full from the pervasive memories of our hero.
Read MoreChris Blatner and I select our second Pinhook Bourbon Single Barrel. This year’s Vertical Series hails from the Kentucky distillery’s eight-year-old stock of MGP barrels that the owners purchased years ago to begin their company. This year, Chris and I are selecting the barrel for Malloy’s Finest, and owner Steve Malloy sits down with us in his swanky office to taste through the three samples that Pinhook provided for us.
Read MoreJake is joined by old friends Chris Blatner and Wilson Torres to celebrate National Bourbon Day. The guys discuss the ever-changing notion of how Bourbon is legally defined, yet evolving new subcategories of the Native Spirit. They sip on a Leopold Bros. Bourbon single barrel, a couple new Bardstown releases and the newest hot item from Penelope.
Read MoreLive from Delilah’s we celebrated World Whisky Day with our good friends from six distilleries from across the world. On Part 2, we get started with Eric Rosentreter of Old Elk, then we flip the script and Chris and Matt interview me about Starward Whisky (00:36:40). And to bring the house down, our spirit sherpa Nick Brady Maas of Dancing Goat closes the show (01:03:10). Listen to the personal stories of these distillery representatives and the history of their distilleries.
Read MoreLive from Delilah’s we celebrated World Whisky Day with our good friends from six distilleries from across the world. On Part 1, we chat with Mark Boyle of Pernod-Ricard about Red Breast 12 (06:25:00), followed by Lukas Vlasnik of Woody Creek (25:33:00) and with Joe Luna of Judson & Moore (01:18:58). Listen to the personal stories of these distillery representatives and the history of their distilleries.
Read MoreLive from my hotel room in Estes Park, CO, I discuss the life of whiskey ambassador from this lovely landscape. I talk about selling single barrels; and developing genuine, healthy relationships in the whiskey industry.
Read MoreMaster Distiller Greg Metze joins the show to share the professional and life lessons he’s learned during four decades in the whiskey industry. Before leaving a 38-year career at Seagrams and MGP, Greg crafted custom mash bills for Old Elk. The creative freedom of working with new grain-builds inspired him to leave his legacy in Indiana of distilling 65% bourbons and 85% of ryes in the market, and blaze a new path with Old Elk by using his knowledge and passion for creating the highest quality spirits.
Read MoreAlex Brick, Woodinville Whiskey Ambassador joins the show to talk us through the history of the Washington state distillery, and his career in the spirits industry. We sip four delightful expressions that Woodinville has to offer, including a 2022 Harvest Release Port Finished Straight Rye. Alex shares stories of Dave Pickerell, the distillery’s focus on wine-finished whiskeys and we even talk the wonders of Iceland.
Read MoreFour years ago I met a man from Australia with ambition to build his whisky brand in the United States. He held an irrational belief that was nearly contagious. In 2009, Starward founder David Vitale built a single malt distillery in Melbourne—when whisky distilling barely existed in Australia. in just 15 years, he went from hand-selling his whisky on folding tables in corporate offices to Distillery of the Year in 2022. Hear the full Starward journey from the founder’s perspective.
Read MoreI recap my recent visit to the Bourbon Trail to select a handful of single barrels for Malloy’s Finest, and how wonderful/individual the whiskey industry truly is. We visited Maker’s Mark, Bardstown Bourbon Co., Preservation Distillery, Starlight Distillery and the Bardstown Collection Launch.
Read MoreZak Rye of Warehouse Liquors (Chicago) shares the history of the iconic spirits purveyor, and how they’ve earned the trust of invested whiskey customers from across the country. Zak is a storyteller, a host and a retailer who’s spent time as a coffee roaster, an ambassador for the famed Compass Box, and now, leads the renovation and transformation of their upstairs space into an event/tasting room/social club.
Read MoreGood friend and Lustau National Brand Ambassador, Steven Dragun tastes us through five sherry wines from the Bodegas Lustau. Steven also explains a detailed history of the company and the complex organization of aging sherry in a solera system. We also discuss the versatility of their wines in cocktails. Sit back, grab a sherry from your local independent retailer and sip some sherry along with us.
Read MoreLive from the world’s best whiskey bar, Delilah’s, I record a Drammers - Chicago whisky event. I’m an ambassador for Starward Whisky, and this episode gives insight to what it’s like to be an ambassador at a branded event. Thank you to Drammers for having me and thank you for being great friends and people.
Read MoreI visit the the conversation of contemplation and preservation of the body and the mind as being a whiskey brand ambassador.
Read MoreLive from The Franklin Room in Chicago, IL, we record the February outrun for Scotch Malt Whisky Society. We blindly sip on six different drams from the club with 34 our dearest friends. We give our tastings notes, reveal the distilleries on the bottle, and talk through history of the club and the scotch distilleries.
Read MoreI share my guide to the great city of Austin, TX. This isn’t a best of list, instead, it’s a curation of how I explore cities as a whisky ambassador on the road. Find great coffee shops, breakfast spots, whiskey haunts and cocktail joints.
Read MoreJake shares his time at Starward Whisky and handling the distillery’s single barrel program in the United States. He also tastes and shares the story of Starward’d first Tawny Cask Single Barrel—that’s hitting the market later this year.
Read MoreLive from The Green Post in Chicago, we escape whiskey and focus on barrel-aged gin from Tattersall. Our old friend Ambrosia Borowski of Green Post and Marcus Reidy of Tattersall sit down to explain how this delicious gin came to be a single barrel for the restaurant. We also discuss the foundation of Minnesota distillery, and focus on Green Post resurrecting both former Northside restaurants Fountainhead and The Northman.
Read MoreJake, Wilson, and Brett Bauer of Sagamore Spirit analyze the future of their collective distillery’s single barrel programming, and how distributors /retailers value single barrels from mid-size distilleries.
Read MoreOld Elk’s new market manager, Eric Rosentreter explains the rise of their single barrel program, and the responsibility of selling/representing a whiskey made by a living legend like Greg Metze.
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