Barrel Room Chronicles

On this episode of Barrel Room Chronicles, A Glass Apart Author Fionnán O’Connor, shares how his academic career collided with the water of life. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley, he taught a one unit class in the Celtic Studies department about the amber spirit. This experience helped lead him into his post graduate work on the history of lost Irish Whiskeys. With a grant from the Irish government and the cooperation of Boann Distillery, O’Connor will be the first person to have a PHD in “Ghost Whiskey.”

Also appearing on this episode is Jonathan Pogash, The Cocktail Guru. Pogash tells how he became one of the most premiere cocktail consultants and bartenders for restaurants and spirit companies in the nation.

Photo of Fionnan O'Connor COURTESY OF BOANN DISTILLERY/PHOTOS BY BRIAN CONNOLLY

Please visit www.BarrelRoomChronicles.com for full show notes, and coming attractions!

Barrel Room Chronicles is a production of 1st Reel Entertainment and is distributed by Anchor.FM and is available on Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeartRadio, Amazon and wherever fine podcasts are heard.

On this premiere episode of Barrel Room Chronicles, Bernard Walsh shares his whiskey journey, while tasting through several expressions from his brand, Writers Tears. Bernard also talks about his involvement with Left Bank, a documentary about four remarkable women who made the first publication of Ulysses (by author James Joyce) possible in 1922—and lastly, he tells us about the recent acquisition of the Walsh Whiskey company by the Amber Beverage Group.

Please visit www.BarrelRoomChronicles.com for full show notes, and coming attractions!

Barrel Room Chronicles is a production of 1st Reel Entertainment and is distributed by Anchor.FM and is available on Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeartRadio, Amazon and wherever fine podcasts are heard.

On this episode of Barrel Room Chronicles, we discover the long lost whiskey history of Peoria, Illinois. Andy Faris and Jeff Murphy join me in a conversation about how they are working to bring back one of the cities greatest distilleries from pre-prohibition era. Plus, Chef Louise Leonard chats with me about her cooking creation using the wheat whiskey expression from JK Williams Distilling.

Barrel Room Chronicles is a production of 1st Reel Entertainment and is distributed by Anchor.FMand is available on Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeartRadio, Amazon and wherever fine podcasts are heard.

Theme song: Kentucky-Bluegrass-Mornin Composer: Clay Tyler Smith © Pond5.com

Spirits of Whisk(e)y explores the wide world of whiskey through high-profile and out-of-the-way makers, blenders, writers, ambassadors, innovators, and pioneers. And Kerry & Philip have been traveling the world virtually to bring these people—and their whiskey journeys—to you. As season one of our podcast approaches its finale, we realize just how many great stories we've put aside to share with you at a later date—and that date is here! Beginning in March, Spirits of Whisk(e)y is offering access to its new VIP Content page to loyal listeners and whiskey lovers who want more. And when it comes to whiskey, who doesn't want more?!

The VIP Lounge opens with The Malting Floor, a new series filled with fantastic audio footage that ended up on the cutting room floor—or in our case, the malting floor. Grand Opening episodes include a chat with Nicole Austin about sour mash, charcoal mellowing, the George Dickel apprentice program, and the hidden meaning behind the numbers 1, 8, and 12. Also available to members is our talk with Fawn Weaver about how she became her own undercover boss, how her ladies-who-lunch date turned into an adventure with private investigators, and death row—plus we learn the true identities of Chick and Rabbit. And deleted content from this week's episode with WhiskyCast's Mark Gillespie also makes its debut on The Malting Floor.

But wait, there's more! The grand opening of our VIP Lounge will also feature three videos of related content, including Kerry's first ever taste of whiskey wash (which we talked about with Laphroaig's Simon Brooking way back on Episode 1), a lost interview from 2015 when Kerry interviewed Jill Kuehler (interviewed with distiller Molly Troupe in Episode 8) when she was just opening Portland's Freeland Spirits, and a sample of Chef Louise Leonard'sCheese Blintzes with Sour Cherry Flambé from Episode 16. And this is just the beginning. We have lots more extra content in store for members of the VIP Lounge.

Sign up now to become a supporter at anchor.fm/spirits-of-whiskey. Click on the support button and select the contribution level that's right for you. Once you’ve submitted your payment information, just visit our website, spiritsofwhiskey.com, to create your personal VIP Access account.