A double feature this week...the latest issue of Malt Advocate is out. John Hansell will give us a preview, and we'll also talk about next month's WhiskyFest in San Francisco. Mikael Mossvall of Mackmyra will give us an update on Sweden's only single malt whisky and plans to export it to the U.S. in 2010. In the news, Jack and Jim pull out of NASCAR, new whiskies from Compass Box, Benromach, and Douglas Laing, and tasting notes for 10 different whiskies!

The Macallan folks like to do things big...like the new $15,000 Macallan Lalique expression: 57-year-old Macallan in a Lalique decanter! Ken Grier is the director of malts for Macallan parent Edrington Group, and he'll update us on the latest from the Macallan and Highland Park, including the 1824 Collection series of travel retail expressions and the upcoming Highland Park 1964 and 1968 vintage releases. In the news, the Bourbon Hall of Fame welcomes 7 new members, $20,000 gets you your own whisky from Whyte and Mackay, and a look at the science of the cocktail.

This time around, we'll have highlights from the Whisky Guild's "Whisky on the Hudson" cruise, including the US debuts of the Balvenie Madeira Cask, Suntory's Hibiki blended whisky, and Laphroaig's new 18-year-old Scotch. In the news, Bowmore comes out with another edition of its legendary 1964 whiskies, Kilchoman debuts its first single malt, and bureaucrats on the loose!

For the first time, Diageo is releasing single cask bottlings from all 27 of its malt distilleries in Scotland. Diageo's master of malt, Dr. Nick Morgan, explains how the Manager's Choice malts were selected, and also previews this year's Distiller's Edition series of single malts. Graeme Wallace will preview the first Whisky Show in London coming up in November, and we'll listen in on the first (ri)1 Iron Bartender Competition held in New York this past week. In the news, new single malts from Ardbeg, Bowmore, Edradour, and Glen Garioch, and I taste a 30-year-old Lagavulin!