WhiskyCast
The cask-strength podcast on whiskies from around the world, including Scotch, Bourbon, Irish, and Canadian whiskies. Listen for the latest whisky news, interviews, tasting notes, and much more! To find out more about WhiskyCast, visit us at WhiskyCast.com.

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Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami is one of Japan's leading business executives. He's the first CEO from outside the founding Torii family, and is also a key economic adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. He inherited last year's $16 billion acquisition of Beam when he joined Suntory six months ago, and has been focused on making the deal work while changing Suntory's internal culture. We'll discuss the growing pains of the deal, which made Beam Suntory the world's #3 spirits company, with Takeshi Niinami on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, a preliminary ruling in one lawsuit against a "handmade" spirits maker could be a sign of problems for whisky makers facing similar lawsuits, Four Roses plans another round of construction in Bourbon Country, and milestones mean commemorative bottlings of whiskies from around the world.

Direct download: WhiskyCast_20150328.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:47pm EDT

US President Barack Obama visited a whisky maker for the first time this week during his trip to Cleveland for a speech to the City Club of Cleveland. He visited the small business incubator that's home to Tom Lix's Cleveland Whiskey, along with nearly two dozen other small manufacturers. Lix's proprietary -- and controversial -- process takes young whiskey and gives it what Lix claims is the color, aroma, and taste of older Bourbons. He'll tell us about the President's visit and discuss his process on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the investigation into the theft of whiskey from a Wild Turkey warehouse in Kentucky continues, Jim Beam fights back in the courts, another "world" whisky is named the World's Best Single Malt, and a Japanese CEO has banned his executives from drinking some of his company's own whiskies to make more available for consumers.

Direct download: WhiskyCast_20150321.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:36pm EDT

Anthony Bourdain is many things...a chef, author, journalist, and media personality. At heart, though, he's a hedonist seeking pleasure from everything he encounters - including whisky. The host of CNN's "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" was the lead juror for this year's American Craft Council Rare Craft Fellowship Awards presented by The Balvenie, and we spent a few minutes discussing whisky at Tuesday's awards luncheon in New York City. He'll share his thoughts on the global interest in whisky, along with his take on what defines a "craft" whisky and more on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth.

In the news, a Buffalo Trace employee has been arrested has been made in the theft of five barrels of Bourbon from Wild Turkey, and investigators are looking for any links to the infamous 2013 "Pappygate" theft. Scotch Whisky industry leaders are hoping for a tax cut in this coming week's UK budget announcement, and a Bourbon brand not sold in the US for two decades is coming back. We'll also have plenty of feedback on last week's interview with class-action attorney Abbas Kazerounian on his consumer fraud lawsuits against Jim Beam and Maker's Mark over their claims of being "hand-made."

Direct download: WhiskyCast_20150314.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:48pm EDT

Lawyers are circling around the whisky industry, much like sharks around a shipwreck. At least five different US distillers and bottlers have been hit with class-action lawsuits since last September accusing them of misleading consumers. The litigation largely focuses on whether their whiskies are "hand-made," "small-batch," or claim to come from a small-scale distillery that actually purchases bulk whiskey from larger distillers.

This week on WhiskyCast In-Depth, we'll hear from one of the attorneys targeting the whisky industry. Abbas Kazerounian's California law firm specializes in class-action consumer cases, and is currently suing Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, and Tito's Vodka over claims that their products are hand-made. His goal is to get drinks producers to be more honest with consumers, and plans to expand that fight to Scotch Whisky and other spirits as well. Beam Suntory declined to make anyone available to discuss the lawsuits, but company spokesmen have said the lawsuits are without merit.

In the news, George Dickel master distiller John Lunn is leaving Diageo for a new opportunity, Brown-Forman plans to turn up the heat on Fireball with its Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire, and two sides are squabbling over the trademark rights to a historic distillery name. This week's tasting notes feature The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve and the Evan Williams Single Barrel 2005 Vintage Bourbon.

Direct download: WhiskyCast_20150307.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:20pm EDT

Lots to talk about this week, with news from all over the world! Bruichladdich's Jim McEwan joins us on WhiskyCast In-Depth to talk about the world's peatiest whisky ever -- his Octomore 6.3 with a phenol level of 258ppm! We'll also hear about new whiskies from Tomatin, Duncan Taylor, Midleton, and Whistlepig...the latest on Teeling Whiskey's new Dublin distillery that could be ready to make whiskey by St. Patrick's Day, and look at the Bourbon boom with Beam Suntory's chief of marketing and sales for Whiskies and Cognacs, Chris Bauder. 

Direct download: WhiskyCast_20150228.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:05pm EDT