Cruising with Jefferson's Bourbon

The "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and a new whisky has come from Middle Earth to mark the occasion. In this case, Middle Earth is New Zealand, where the movies were filmed, and the distillery is Pōkeno Distillery on New Zealand's North Island. Pōkeno co-founder Matthew Johns and his team insisted the whisky be more than a mere marketing gimmick, so they combined four cask types — including a rare Manuka honey cask — to make the whisky. Matthew Johns joins us from New Zealand this week on WhiskyCast In-Depth. We'll also get the origin story behind the new Jacob's Pardon Bourbon from blender/writer F. Paul Pacult and Palm Bay International CEO Marc Taub, for whom Jacob's Pardon is a piece of family history. Woody Creek Distillers "spokes-dude" William H. Macy closes out the show with a song, too!

There were just three whisky distillers in England when Daniel Szor opened the Cotswolds Distillery in 2014. Now, there are more than 70, and English Whisky has just been granted geographical indicator status by the UK government. Szor helped lead the push to get that status as chair of the English Whisky Guild for the past three years, and we'll discuss the controversy surrounding that approval with him on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, federal investigators are now looking into the case of the hidden cameras in Kentucky, while a bottle of The Macallan 1926 sold for $2.8 million at auction this week.

Documentary filmmaker Greg Swartz is back with his fourth whisky film. "West of Tradition" looks at the nascent American Single Malt movement through the story of Seattle's Westland Distillery. It's a followup to his previous films, which include "The Water of Life" and "Independent Spirits." We'll talk with Greg Swartz on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news…we have details on a shocking shakeup at True Story Whiskey and the Kentucky Castle Resort…fire strikes an historic Kentucky distillery…workers at Diageo's Cameronbridge Distillery are set to step up their ongoing strike, and we'll honor an Islay legend who passed away this week.

Martin Markvardsen joined Highland Park as a brand ambassador in 2006. Since then, he's traveled the world touting the virtues of his favorite whisky. He's so in love with Highland Park that he had the logo tattooed on his chest - right over his heart. We'll talk with Martin about his journey and taste the new 17-year-old Between You and I expression on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, President Donald Trump's ban on Canadian Whisky imports is scheduled to go into effect this week, but there's a major loophole that will keep whisky flowing across the border. We'll have the details and the rest of the week's whisky news.

Amrut's Indian single malts have been popular with whisky connoisseurs for nearly two decades. Now, with increasing competition from other Indian single malt distillers, Amrut is seeking to capture the entry-level whisky drinker with Kranthi, a single malt designed to be approachable for beginners, yet complex enough to please connoisseurs. We'll talk with Amrut master distiller and chief operating officer Ashok Chokalingam on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame has inducted its Class of 2026, and we'll hear from some of the inductees. President Trump's ban on imports of Canadian whisky may not be a complete ban, and workers at Diageo's Cameronbridge Distillery in Scotland are preparing to go on strike next week.