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Bourbon & Beyond gets underway this Friday night in Louisville with a charity Bourbon auction to benefit the Speed Art Museum. The whiskies going up for bids include one of the original Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old Bourbons - the 10th one ever filled - along with other historic whiskies and one-of-a-kind whiskey experiences. We'll talk with Speed Art Museum director Stephen Reily about the auction and the educational programs that will benefit from it during WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, there's still no resolution to the Four Roses Distillery strike in Kentucky, and negotiations aren't scheduled to resume until the end of this week. The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame has inducted three new members and presented this year's Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award, and if you think MMA champion Conor McGregor gets mad in the Octagon...just think how mad he might get by losing a trademark fight outside of the ring.

Portland's Westward American Single Malt from House Spirits is the latest prize in the spree of acquisitions and investments by major spirits brands in emerging brands. House Spirits announced Wednesday that Diageo's in-house venture capital unit, Distill Ventures, has acquired a minority stake in Westward as its first public investment in a North American spirits brand. Distill Ventures already holds stakes in Denmark's Stauning Whisky and Starward Whisky from Australia as part of its portfolio. House Spirits CEO and Westward co-founder Tom Mooney joins us on WhiskyCast In-Depth for his first interview since the announcement. In the news, the Kentucky Bourbon Festival is underway with a looming possibility of fallout from the strike by union workers at Four Roses Distillery. Union leaders plan to have a presence at Bardstown's biggest party of the year, and we'll have all the details. There's also an update on some of the week's new whiskies, including the final whisky in Diageo's 2018 Special Releases Serie

Like most romances, Wyoming Whiskey and Edrington had plenty of potential partners trolling around. Neither one needed a partner, until they found each other and formed what Edrington Americas CEO Chris Spalding calls "a match made in Heaven." The strategic partnership announced this week will see Edrington take on sales, distribution, and marketing for Wyoming Whiskey. The distillery's founders will continue to make the whiskey, and the deal gives them expanded distribution while giving Edrington a foothold in the Bourbon business. We'll break down the deal with Chris Spalding and Wyoming Whiskey co-founder David DeFazio on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, workers at Kentucky's Four Roses Distillery have gone on strike just days before the start of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which draws thousands of whiskey lovers to the state's distilleries. Union leaders are pledging to protest the lack of a new contract at the festival if no agreement is reached this week. We'll have an update on Dave Pickerell's new

Virginia's distilling history dates back to at least 1620, and while many whiskey lovers know about George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon, it's just one of the state's 70 distilleries making everything from rum and vodka to single malt whiskies. September is Virginia Spirits Month, and we'll visit some of those distilleries and find out more about what's shaping up to be a model partnership between the state and its craft distillers on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the impact of tariffs on American whiskey exports is forcing Brown-Forman to revise its profit estimates - and raise prices, while Pernod Ricard is projecting an increase in profits for its fiscal year. We'll have details on those stories and more, including the week's new whiskies and an honor for one of Australia's leading distillers.

If Fred Minnick had any more balls in the air right now, the circus would be calling him with a job offer as a juggler. He's launching the new Bourbon+ Magazine as its founding editor-in-chief, curating the Bourbon events for next month's Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Louisville, and his book publisher has just commissioned a second edition of his award-winning book "Bourbon Curious." If that's not enough, he and his wife Jaclyn are a few weeks away from having their second child. We got Fred to relax for a few minutes on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Heaven Hill has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Bob Dylan's new Heaven's Door whiskies. Scottish officials are taking the next step in reviving distilling at the historic Dallas Dhu Distillery in Speyside while keeping it open as a museum, and the hot summer could mean tighter supplies of barley for distillers.

It's been a hot, dry summer in Scotland, and Euan Mitchell isn't complaining a bit. The managing director of Isle of Arran Distillers is overseeing construction of a second distillery at Lagg on the island's southern coast, and the weather is allowing work to be completed right on schedule. Lagg's stills are scheduled to arrive on the island this week, and plans are still in place for the distillery to begin production in January. We'll catch up on Lagg's progress and changes at Arran with Euan Mitchell on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, whisky auctions Friday brought out bidders in Scotland and Hong Kong, with one rare Japanese single malt selling for more than $340,000! We'll also have details on a rare traffic jam in Speyside as would-be collectors jammed the gates at The Macallan hours before a rare single malt went on sale at the distillery. 

This week, we'll visit House Spirits Distillery - part of Portland's "Distillery Row" along the eastern banks of the Willamette River. House Spirits is the home of Westward American Single Malt Whiskey, and head distiller Miles Munroe will take us on a tour of the distillery during WhiskyCast In-Depth. We'll also talk with Jeneen Bell, the president of Portland's 300-member Women Who Whiskey chapter, about what makes Portland a good place to drink. In the news, cleanup work is slowly progressing at Kentucky's Barton 1792 Distillery following the recent rickhouse collapse, but it could take months to work through a massive pile of around 18,000 whiskey barrels. Templeton Rye has opened its $35 million distillery in Iowa, and we'll have the latest on new whiskies from Scotland and Kentucky, too. 

Jeff Arnett became the Master Distiller for Jack Daniel's in 2008, joining a small club of distillers that began with Jack Daniel and Nathan "Nearest" Green in 1866. In his first decade on the job, he's created more new Jack Daniel's whiskies than all of his predecessors combined, while also traveling the world as the brand's chief ambassador. We'll talk with Jeff Arnett about that decade and his plans for the future on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, community activists in Northern Ireland are trying to scuttle part of the expansion plan for Bushmills, while Wild Turkey's team is scrambling to meet unexpected demand for one of their newest whiskies.

Construction workers are racing the clock to complete work at Louisville's Frazier History Museum by the end of this month, when the new "Spirit of Kentucky" Bourbon history exhibit and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Welcome Center are scheduled to open. Both represent a multi-million dollar investment in Bourbon tourism on Louisville's Whiskey Row, and we'll take a "hard hat" tour with the Frazier's Andy Treinen on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, 2017 was another record year for Scotch Whisky tourism, and a new whisky trail is giving tourists a taste of the Hebrides. We'll also have details on new whiskies from Jack Daniel's, Highland Park, Johnnie Walker, and the revival of Fettercairn with a new range of single malts. 

Global trade has helped the whisky industry expand massively over the last two decades. With the ongoing trade dispute between the US and its key trading partners threatening that growth, the world's nine major whisky trade associations held their first-ever "W9 Summit" this week in Louisville. WhiskyCast was in Louisville for the summit, and we'll have complete coverage on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, we'll have details on the week's new whiskies from Glenfiddich, Johnnie Walker, Mortlach, Highland Park, and more - along with the week's tasting notes and in our "Behind the Label" segment, we'll look at how a whisky maker crafts a new range of single malts.

This time around, we're in New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, the annual gathering of bartenders and drinks industry leaders for a week of education and entertainment. Think of this year's version as Tales 2.0, though. There's a completely new management team in place following some troubled times for the conference in the past 18 months, and the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation has been formed to create a long-term impact on the industry. This week, they started by awarding $250,000 in grants to fund projects aimed at improving diversity and educational opportunities for the hospitality community. We'll talk with the foundation's executive director, Caroline Rosen, on WhiskyCast In-Depth, and have a lot of highlights from the week as well. In the news, the global trade war is bringing whisky industry leaders together for their first-ever summit in Louisville this coming week. We'll have a preview and talk with one distiller who's braving Europe's new tariffs on American whiskies to start exporting for th

The James E. Pepper Distillery dominated the western edge of downtown Lexington, Kentucky for decades until it closed in 1958, and what was at one time the country's largest Bourbon distillery became a rundown eyesore. Several years ago, entrepreneurs bought several of the distillery's buildings and started building bars, a brewery, galleries and other businesses in the "Distillery District." Last December, Amir Peay's Georgetown Trading Co. brought distilling back to the district when he reopened the James E. Pepper Distillery using part of the original distillery building. This week, the distillery opened its doors to visitors for the first time to show off the heritage - and the future of the Pepper brand. Amir Peay joins us on WhiskyCast In-Depth. We'll also have details on Sazerac's Tennessee Whiskey plans, along with the opening next month of Stauning Whisky's new distillery in Denmark and much more!

Heaven Hill has unveiled the 2018 edition of Parker's Heritage Collection whiskey. It's a Bourbon finished in Orange Curaçao liqueur barrels, and that has some purists raising an eyebrow. Heaven Hill Master Distiller Denny Potter joins us on WhiskyCast In-Depth to explain - and defend the process that went into creating this year's release as a chance to try something different...the way Parker Beam would have. In the news, Western Kentucky is getting a new whiskey distillery that's actually an old one about to be used for the first time, while Angel's Envy in Louisville is starting an expansion project just two years after the distillery opened. We'll also explain why liquor reform in British Columbia will have to wait until after cannabis reform, and taste four craft whiskies in this week's tasting notes. 

Ken Lewis has accomplished a lot of things in his life, from climbing Alaska's Denali to owning one of Kentucky's largest chains of liquor stores. Four years ago, he sold The Party Source stores to his employees and opened New Riff Distilling in Newport, Kentucky to start making whiskey instead of selling it. At the end of this month, the first New Riff Bourbon will go on sale - a four-year-old Bottled in Bond Bourbon. We'll talk with Ken about his disruptive approach to life and whiskey on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the cleanup project at Kentucky's Barton 1792 Distillery has doubled after the second half of a rickhouse collapsed on Wednesday, China's new tariffs on American Whiskey exports have gone into effect, and there are plenty of new whiskies to talk about, too!

The rough, cold waters off Scotland's Isle of Islay are a challenge for even the best sailors, and one might think it madness to try and swim around the island. A year ago, three men did just that and collected whiskies from each of Islay's eight distilleries along their journey in the "Great Islay Swim." Veteran explorers Justin Fornal and Chad Anderson were joined by Beam Suntory brand ambassador Johnnie Mundell, who brought his own open-water swimming background and his connections on Islay to the challenge. We'll talk with Johnnie Mundell about his life-changing experience on WhiskyCast In-Depth and taste the whisky that's been bottled from that challenge and is being sold to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. In the news, the ringleader of Kentucky's "Pappygate" thefts has been released on shock probation after serving just 30 days of his 15-year prison sentence, while a judge's ruling is all that remains before the stolen whiskey seized as evidence in the case can be destroyed. Mea

While the cause of last Friday's warehouse collapse at Kentucky's Barton 1792 Distillery is still not known, the whiskey industry has known for years about the problems so-called "powderpost" beetles can cause in a rickhouse. Anobiid beetles dig deeply into old, untreated wood as larvae, then chew their way out as adults, and are capable of weakening the structural integrity of a wooden structure over many years. University of Kentucky entomology professor Michael Potter is an expert on these beetles, and has worked with Barton 1792 and other distilleries over his 27 years at UK. He'll join us on WhiskyCast In-Depth, and we'll also have details as state officials plan to cite Sazerac for environmental damage from the whiskey spilled in the rickhouse collapse.

  If you're young, you might think 45 is old. If you're older, you might think 45 is still pretty young. But when you're talking about tasting a 45-year-old Bourbon, not only is that old, but it's the oldest Bourbon ever bottled! We'll head to Julio's Liquors in Massachusetts for the rare chance to taste the James Thompson & Brother Final Reserve 45-year-old Bourbon, along with its 42-year-old kid brother and three vintage Kentucky whiskies from the 50's and 60's. In the news, we'll have the latest on Friday's partial collapse of a whiskey warehouse at Kentucky's Barton 1792 Distillery that left 9,000 barrels of whisky in a huge pile of timber and tin. On Behind the Label, we'll also explain why those warehouses are called "rickhouses" in Kentucky and why the "ricks" are built out of wood.

The Glasgow Distillery Company won't release its first 1770 Glasgow single malt whisky until later this year, but the four-year-old company is already kicking off a year-long expansion project to double its production capacity. We'll talk with co-founder Liam Hughes about the expansion and the challenges of launching Glasgow's first malt whisky distillery in a century on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, European Union import tariffs on American-made whiskies go into effect on Friday, setting the stage for potential retaliation against their whiskies from Washington. We'll update distillery projects in Ireland and Scotland as well on this episode of WhiskyCast recorded at New York City's Grand Central Station, where Highland Park premiered a pop-up Orkney exhibition Wednesday night.

There are plenty of cocktail competitions for bartenders, but Speed Rack was one of the first to highlight women working behind the bar. Lynette Marrero and Ivy Mix founded Speed Rack in 2012 to not only empower women in the cocktail culture, but also to raise money for breast cancer research and charities. They've succeeded at both over the last six years, and will be staging the first Speed Rack competition in Australia next month. We'll talk with Lynette Marrero on WhiskyCast In-Depth, and while we're talking about cocktail competitions, we'll check in with Lynn House as the eight regional winners in Heaven Hill's 2018 Bartender of the Year competition gather in Sea Island, Georgia for this week's finals. In the news, China has joined the growing list of US trading partners targeting American-made whiskies for punitive tariffs as the trade war expands. Kentucky's Castle & Key Distillery has successfully defended a trademark infringement suit over its use of the original Old Taylor name for its distille

  Tax cuts that took effect at the start of 2018 encouraged many US whisky distillers to expand their facilities. Now, they're caught in the middle of the trade war between the United States and its trading partners in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. Not only are the whiskies some of those distillers export going to be hit with new tariffs at the start of July, but prices for the stainless steel and aluminum they need for those expansion projects are going up because of the US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. We'll look at the issue on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Brown-Forman has opened its Old Forester distillery on Louisville's "Whiskey Row" downtown, while the management of Bardstown's Willett Distillery is being handed down to the next generation. Wild Turkey is releasing a new Bourbon with a back story appropriate for Father's Day weekend, and we'll head into the weekend with some Dad jokes.