In this conversation, Drew Hannush interviews Dr. Pat Heist, co-founder of Wilderness Trail Distillery, exploring the journey from a small farmhouse distillery to a significant player in the whiskey industry. They discuss the scientific approach to distilling, the impact of the Renewable Fuels Act, the evolution of fermentation practices, and the importance of data collection in whiskey production. Dr. Heist shares insights on the sweet mash process, the challenges of scaling operations, and the...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 2 min
New Riff Distillery (Newport, KY) WF061 As we continue to celebrate the release of Whiskey Lore's Travel Guide to Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon: Second Edition, time to visit one of the new breed of distilleries in Kentucky. As one of the few independent distilleries of size in the state, still family-owned, New Riff has found a way to spread their whiskey nearly coast-to-coast. As those beautiful and uniquely colored bottles make their way across the country, it is time to introduce you to the ...
Jun 23, 2025•31 min•Ep. 154
Whiskey Thief (Franklin Co and Louisville, KY) WF060 Surprise, surprise, we're going to have a repeat guest to the show today. Distilling director Lisa Wicker (formerly of Limestone Branch, Huber's Starlight, and Widow Jane) joins us along with Walter Zausch, owner of the Whiskey Thief Distillery. If you've never been, you're missing one of Kentucky's most unique distillery experiences. From the barn and farm, to the goats, food trucks, and barrel thieving - there may not be a better distillery ...
Jun 16, 2025•35 min•Ep. 153
Augusta Distillery (Augusta, KY) WF059 The month-long celebration of the release of Whiskey Lore's Travel Guide to Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon: Second Edition continues with a journey to the Northern Kentucky region that is home to New Riff, Neeley Family, Boone County and others. But did you know, along the Ohio River, below Cincinnati and northwest of Lexington there are three distilleries just waiting to be explored? Today, we're going to visit with Ryan Edwards, co-founder of Augusta Disti...
Jun 02, 2025•32 min•Ep. 152
RD1 Spirits Distillery (Lexington, KY) WF058 Today, we start a journey through Kentucky, visiting some of the great distillery experiences that have arrived since the release of my first edition of Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon in 2020 - as I celebrate the launch of the expanded Second Edition this week. Our first guest is Barry Brinegar of RD1 Spirits of Lexington. His new distillery experience is a perfect example of how distilleries are expanding the story and process of whiskey making in new...
May 26, 2025•31 min•Ep. 151
Iron City Distilling (Creighton, PA) WF057 It's time to head back to Pennsylvania, to visit one of the only three chamber stills in America and experience another side of Monongahela Rye. Join me as I chat with master distiller Matt Strickland and company president Peter Katz about how Iron City Beer got into the distilling world, discuss my experience at the distillery, and find out how you learn to distill on a piece of equipment that had gone extinct. Plus we'll learn a bit about the tours at...
May 19, 2025•36 min•Ep. 150
Minden Mill Distillery (Minden, NV) WF056 Taking a short break from the Great 48 on-site visits for a virtual visit to a location I visited when it lived under a different name - Bently Heritage. When they reached out to me about potentially doing an interview - I jumped at the chance. First, if you don't know about this distillery, you should. It is one of the coolest distilleries in the world. Today, it is known as Minden Mill. New owners, yet, still an amazing distillery and now it has one of...
May 12, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 149
Painted Stave Distillery (Smyrna, DE) WF055 For our 17th of the Great 48, I thought I was going to have some trouble tracking down a whiskey distillery in Delaware, but low and behold I found a fun one in the Painted Stave. Ron and Mike had a particular vision (and name) for this distillery, but sometimes plans change. In this case, rather than a distillery that distributes across the states, they've honed in on their community and it is a fun place to hang out with friends. From the food trucks...
May 05, 2025•33 min•Ep. 148
Dad's Hat Distillery (Bristol, PA) WF054 Been a long time since I've been in eastern Pennsylvania and I have good reason to be here now. I'm taking part in a Pennsylvania whiskey documentary AND I'm getting to enjoy some fantastic distillery visits. This week, it is the place where the Pennsylvania rye revival took off...thanks to a magazine article and a wonderful wife who supplied her husband with the best rye whiskies available at that time. We'll hear the story of Herman Mihalich, co-founder...
Apr 28, 2025•33 min•Ep. 147
Meinelschmidt Distillery (Hagarstown, MD) WF053 Time for another Mid-Atlantic stop, this one not far off the I-81 exit. We're stopping in to visit a military veteran who, along with his wife, decided to take their enjoyment of craft distillery travel and turn it into their own distillery. We'll learn Cort and Chelsea's inspirations for their Hagarstown distillery, hear about the growth of the town, their interest in wheated whiskeys, and hear the story of how the two met. And, now Whiskey Lore's...
Apr 21, 2025•28 min•Ep. 146
Copper Fox Distillery (Sperryville, VA) WF052 You've heard of peat smoked Scotch...well, that's not what you're going to get at Copper Fox. Instead, the grains from the distillery's malting floor get their smoke infused with smoke from cherrywood, peachwood, and applewood. It's a unique take on smoke and it comes from distiller and founder Rick Wasmund's fascination with the wonderful scents these woods produce when burned. Join me as I visit one of the few malting floors in the country and lear...
Apr 14, 2025•33 min•Ep. 145
Black Draft Distillery (Martinsburg, WV) WF051 What started as a horse farm is now the home of whiskey, fascinating flavors of vodka, and barns and a patio filled with music, cocktails, and a good number of soon-to-be friends. Join me in the smoking room of the Black Draft Distillery as I chat with founder Glen Price about the evolution of his horse farm into an agritourism site and the home of fun weekend parties targeted to empty-nesters. I also find myself face to face with my own family's po...
Apr 07, 2025•37 min•Ep. 144
Oak & Grist Distillery (Black Mountain, NC) WF050 Just a few miles east of Asheville, North Carolina (which has held the honor as Beer City USA several times) is a somewhat sleepy community on the edge of the mountains, where Will Goldberg and Charlie Stanley are focused on distilling up two amazing spirits - an American Single Malt and a Dutch-style Jenever. Their stories start with both wine and cheese - backgrounds that center them in agriculture, flavor, experience, and terrior. Their po...
Mar 31, 2025•34 min•Ep. 143
Today I braved Atlanta traffic for one of my favorite recorded interviews of the year. Join me as I chat with ASW's head distiller Justin Manglitz. A distiller, a fiddler. Somehow, without ever traveling to Scotland or Ireland, he pulled in the art of distilling from those storied whisky making areas, saw what was happening in America, and developed his own hybrid techniques from the two disparate philosophies. Learning my lesson after not carrying a microphone around during my interview with Ri...
Mar 24, 2025•39 min•Ep. 142
St. Augustine Distillery (St. Augustine, FL) WF0048 Heading down to a beautiful distillery in a historic building in a town filled with its own history. Join me as I travel to the oldest continuously occupied town in the United States (did I get that right?) as we meet with Richard DeMontmollin, head distiller, and chat about the origins of the distillery, his family name, the wonders of the pot still, and free tours. If you've been curious about that fountain of youth or have been hearing about...
Mar 17, 2025•30 min•Ep. 141
Seven Three Distillery (New Orleans, LA) WF047 Time to head down to the Big Easy to a distillery experience with a little swamp magic and a whiskey tree. In a town with so many cool things to experience, its time to get a feel for the hospitality and spirits produced by Luka Cutura and his team at Seven Three Distillery, just across the bridge from the Louisiana Superdome and a few blocks from Bourbon Street. And check out an extra eight minutes of interview time with a free-trial of Whiskey Lor...
Mar 10, 2025•32 min•Ep. 140
Crittenden Distillery (Kiln, MS) WF046 Head to the deep, Deep South, down to the self-proclaimed moonshine capital of the United States, Kiln, MS. While it did snow here a couple weeks ago, this area is much more known for its heat and we're going to go step by step with Matt Crittenden through the distilling process and chat about various considerations along the way. Patreon members are getting a rare treat - experiencing what it is like to walk through a distillery with me. Matt and I carry o...
Mar 03, 2025•49 min•Ep. 139
Dread River Distillery (Birmingham, AL) WF045 The Deep South tour continues as I move through 48 great states and craft distilleries. Today I'm at Birmingham's Dread River Distillery meeting with their head distiller Joshua. We're going to dive into his experience moving from a Pennsylvania distillery into the heat of the South. We'll also learn about an American Single Malt experiment that took a unique turn, learn how Dread River fits into the Birmingham nightlife, and we'll attempt to meet Pa...
Feb 24, 2025•33 min•Ep. 138
Time to take a trek off the beaten path to a family run distillery that defines what it means to run a craft distillery business. For 10 years, Craig and Meredith Amick have grown the business from moonshine made on a flame fed pot still to a line of Bourbon's that are showing, even in South Carolina heat, the right craftsman can make a unique Bourbon filled with complexity. Join me as we chat about Craig's family's 9 generations in South Carolina and how they've incorporated that history into t...
Feb 17, 2025•36 min•Ep. 137
Rock Town Distillery (Little Rock, AR) WF0043 Today, I'm off on the last stop of my first swing through the country. The destination is Rock Town Distillery, where cocktails have become a specialty, and where you can taste the difference between column still and pot still whiskey - and maybe even taste some peated Bourbon and single malt. Join me today as I chat with Phil Brandon, founder of Rock Town, as we talk about the distillery's 15th anniversary, getting started in non-traditional places,...
Feb 10, 2025•31 min•Ep. 136
Hochatown Distilling Co (Broken Bow, OK) WF0042 What do you think of when you think of Oklahoma? Probably not beautiful green hills and Bourbon whiskey. Well, it is time to discover, along with me, one of the most beautiful parts of the state of Oklahoma, near the tourist town of Broken Bow, to learn about a distillery built on science. Meet Blue McDaniel, co-founder of the Hochatown Distilling Company, a distillery that embraces the unique weather, local grains and lumber, and started with a sc...
Jan 27, 2025•33 min•Ep. 135
Ironroot Republic Distillery (Denison, TX) WF0041 The Great 48 Tour heads to a family run distillery that is celebrating 10 years of mixing French distilling techniques with Bourbon and other spirits. Join me as I chat with Robert Likarish, co-founder of Ironroot. We'll talk about the distillery's origins, working with barrels in Texas heat, and how they set their distillery experience apart from the rest. Find details about Ironroot and all of the other distilleries we profile on the show at wh...
Jan 20, 2025•34 min•Ep. 134
Old Dominick Distillery (Memphis, TN) WF040 Welcome to Memphis, the second stop on my Great 48 Tour of the United States and its amazingly creative craft distilleries. Today, we're skipping Graceland and heading straight downtown to Front Street, a couple stops from Beale, to enjoy some whiskey and Memphis history through the eyes of the Old Dominick Distillery. Join me as I visit one of my favorite distilleries in the state, talk about the tour experience, the legends of Boss Crump and Prohibit...
Jan 13, 2025•33 min•Ep. 133
Bard Distillery (Graham, KY) WF039 It's time for the "Great 48 Tour" as I make my way across the country, visiting a craft distillery in each of the 48 contiguous states. It seems appropriate to start this kind of journey in Kentucky, the state that helped bring whiskey back after Prohibition. But so many distilleries in east and central Kentucky are well established. Heading to Western Kentucky is like seeing the rebirth of distilling all over again. Today's stop is the Bard Distillery (Stop #1...
Jan 06, 2025•33 min•Ep. 132
Kiwi Spirit (Golden Bay, New Zealand) WF038 (A special extended version is available at whiskey-lore.com/patreon - available with the 7-day free trial) It's time to head to the land of the Kiwi's - New Zealander's fun nickname. A few weeks ago, Kiwi Spirit was flying in the Whiskey Lore "Craft Distillery Fan Favorite" competition and reached the Sweet 16. I felt it was time to get to know them and their spirits better. What I found out is that the distillery is on the edge of one of the most bea...
Dec 29, 2024•42 min•Ep. 131
Hellyers Road Distillery (Burnie, Tasmania) WF037 How many distilleries are there on the island of Tasmania? Wow, really? It is time to take our first steps onto whisky island. So you thought that was Islay, right? Well, maybe by volume, but for the sheer number of distilleries, Tasmania has them by a mile. Today, let's get a sense of what is going on in Tasmania, the flavors, the styles, the experiences, and the people. Join me as I chat with CEO Derek Charge or our Head Distiller Fiona Coutts ...
Dec 16, 2024•37 min•Ep. 130
Hard Truth Spirits (Nashville, Indiana) WF036 Over the years, I've been to a few distilleries that consider themselves "destination distilleries." On the way up through Indiana, I saw Hard Truth suggesting they were a "Top" destination distillery. In this episode, Gerry, Bryan, and Travis are out to convince me of it. Join me on my last stop along the Midwest Great Lakes Tour 2024 as I visit the hill country of Indiana. And also find out about one of Canada's legendary distillers that time forgo...
Dec 09, 2024•58 min•Ep. 129
O'Shaughnessy Distilling Co. (Minneapolis, MN) WF035 The Midwest Great Lakes Tour 2024 is winding down, but not before we hit a jewel of the Midwest, Minneapolis and the distillery that is bringing together Irish and American spirit traditions. The distillery is O'Shaughnessy the home of Keeper's Heart. I'll chat with former brewer, now lead distiller Chris Sliber about how he and Irish distiller Brian Nation are building the perfect infusion of Irish Pot Still, grain, and American Bourbon and r...
Oct 21, 2024•37 min•Ep. 128
When it comes to whisky legends, George Dickel has one of the most confusing. Was he a distiller or wasn't he a distiller? Who is this Victor or Manny Shwab that gets a mention during the historical breakdown on the tour. Did George ever own the Cascade Hollow distillery? And if he didn't who did? Plus, where did the slogan for their whisky "Mellow as Moonlight" come from? My guest today, Clay Shwab, is the great-grandson of the man who had a vision for George Dickel & Co, laid his own money...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 120
45th Parallel Distillery (New Richmond, WI) WF034 After a short (recording) layoff, thanks a a hurricane power outage, I'm back to finish off the last three visits on my Midwest Great Lakes Tour 2024. Today, we're off to a distillery with great fan support in an area just a little off the beaten path. It's 45th Parallel, just about 50 minutes east of Minneapolis. It's a distillery focused on grain-to-glass, getting most of their grains from the local community and they're working on a variety of...
Oct 14, 2024•35 min•Ep. 127
