WhiskyCast CaskStrength Media

Kentucky’s Wilderness Trail Distillery has grown over the last decade from a small barrel-a-day distillery to become one of the nation’s largest Bourbon distilleries. Dr. Pat Heist and Shane Baker founded Wilderness Trail as an offshoot of Ferm Solutions, their consulting business that works with distillers and brewers around the world. This week on WhiskyCast In-Depth, we’ll talk with Pat Heist about the origin of Wilderness Trail — in a rock band, of all places, and the circumstances that led to their decision to sell the distillery to Campari in late 2022. In the news, Laphroaig is planning a major expansion, while whisky auction prices have yet to recover from recent declines.

Barry MacAffer is leaving Laphroaig Distillery and his native Islay for a new adventure: building a malt whisky distillery in South Korea. This week on WhiskyCast In-Depth, Barry tells us why he’s making the move now and what he’ll miss most about Islay. In the news, the threat of tariffs hangs over the whisky industry again as the U.S. Presidential election heats up, another new distillery is in the works for Scotland, and Rosebank Distillery opens its doors to visitors for the first time. 

There’s one distillery on Scotland’s Isle of Jura, and Jura master whisky maker Dr. Kirstie McCallum joins us from the island this week on WhiskyCast In-Depth. We’ll talk about Jura’s festival day as part of the Islay Festival of Malt and Music, this year’s Festival bottling, and her 25-year-long career in the Scotch Whisky industry. We’ll also have details on the week’s new releases, tasting notes, and much more!

Many distilleries take great pains to be involved in their surrounding communities, but Scotland’s Glen Wyvis Distillery goes to an extreme. That’s because many members of the Dingwall community are shareholders in the community distillery, which was built with a crowdfunding campaign. The distillery donates a percentage of its profits each year to grants for local community programs, with a goal of improving life for all of Dingwall’s residents. Distillery manager Matthew Farmer joins us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Wild Turkey honors Jimmy Russell with its new visitors center, while Scotch Whisky industry leaders are worried about a potential return to tariffs after the U.S. Presidential election. 

Islay’s Ardnahoe Distillery has released its first single malt since the distillery opened in 2019, and we’ll talk about the journey with Scott Laing of Hunter Laing & Co. on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, longtime Glen Grant master distiller Dennis Malcolm is retiring after 63 years in the whisky business, while Oregon officials have decided not to prosecute six former state liquor regulators for diverting stocks of Pappy Van Winkle whiskies for their personal use.

James Espey and Tom Jago founded The Last Drop 15 years ago with a goal of finding casks of rare whiskies and other spirits and bottling them. Since then, the company has been sold to Sazerac and Tom’s daughter Rebecca is now in charge, but the goal remains the same: finding those unicorn whiskies that may have fallen through the cracks…or just don’t fit into someone else’s plans. We’ll talk with Rebecca Jago about The Last Drop’s 2024 Collection and the difficulty of sourcing those rare casks in today’s market on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, labor problems hit Heaven Hill and Whyte & Mackay, while a longtime Highland distillery manager has retired.