The annual Islay Festival of Malt & Music gets underway this weekend, and they'll be celebrating more than just whisky on Islay this week. Bruichladdich's Jim McEwan, a native Ileach, is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the whisky business this week, and scotched the rumors that he might announce his retirement during the Feis in this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth interview. He'll also share some of his memories, as well as a life lesson his own mentor taught him many years ago when he was an apprentice cooper at Bowmore. In the news, Buffalo Trace is warning of a Bourbon shortage, we'll check on new whiskies from anCnoc, The Glenrothes, and a couple of Islay Festival bottlings, and honor another 50-year whisky veteran who's retiring this week.

Gordon & MacPhail has released thousands of single cask bottlings over the years, including the two oldest whiskies ever bottled: 70-year-old casks of Mortlach and Glenlivet single malts. Now, the family-owned company is reviving its "Rare Old" series of single malts with a series of new releases. Many of those new releases are from distilleries that closed 30 years ago this year during one of the industry's biggest cutbacks in distilling capacity. We'll discuss those distilleries and whether a new "whisky loch" is filling up with Gordon & MacPhail's Michael Urquhart in this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, another Indian distillery expands its single malt lineup, Miltonduff Distillery gets a turn in the spotlight, and more new distilleries are coming to Northern Ireland. This week's tasting notes include Ardbeg's new Ardbog, The Glenlivet's new Alpha single malt, and Forty Creek's upcoming Heart of Gold Canadian whisky.

One of the fun things about WhiskyCast has been the opportunity to watch dreams come true, and that's the case with this week's episode. Back in 2006, we first met Barry Stein and Barry Bernstein as they were just getting started as Canada's first independent Scotch whisky bottlers and dreamed of making their own whisky. in 2009, they opened Still Waters Distillery in a Toronto suburb, and on April 27, the first cask of their Stalk & Barrel single malt whisky went on sale. This weekend, they were pouring it at the Spirit of Toronto festival, and we'll catch up with the guys on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Diageo's shaking up the executive suite, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail gets a new stop on Louisville's Whiskey Row, and we'll hear about new whiskies from Mackmyra, Jura, Corby, and Masterson's.

Family-owned businesses often face obstacles that other companies don't, and the whisky business is no exception. This week, Fred and Stewart Laing dissolved their 40+ year partnership in Glasgow-based Douglas Laing & Co., with Stewart taking his half of the business to form his own company with his sons. Meanwhile, Fred has brought his daughter Cara into what remains of Douglas Laing, and both brothers are already working on new whisky ideas. We'll hear from both brothers on their views of the split and their plans for the future. In the news, Kentucky's Bourbon distillers had their busiest year in nearly four decades during 2012, Heaven Hill's partners are signing on to help support Parker Beam's Promise of Hope fund for ALS research, and the Maker's Mark controversy pays off for Beam.