The Whiskey Lore® Podcast
by Drew Hannush
The Whiskey Lore Podcast, hosted by best-selling travel author Drew Hannush, is a captivating exploration of whiskey's rich history, myths, and modern craft distilling culture, appealing to both enthusiasts and curious newcomers.Covering bourbon, Scotch, Irish, rye, and more, the podcast offers three formats: Stories, which delve into historical narratives like the origins of Bottled-in-Bond or Ireland's whiskey rebirth, Interviews which documents whiskey history and the people making it, and Whiskey Flights, a weekly series focused on craft distillery travel.Whiskey Flights transports listeners to craft distilleries worldwide, offering virtual tours that highlight unique operations, local grains, and innovative spirits. Episodes feature chats with founders—like Brian Cummings of Great Northern Distilling or Guy Whitehead of Lucky Guys Distillery—covering topics from potato vodka to bitters crafting. Each Flight emphasizes the pleasures of distillery visits, sharing practical trave
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Episodes
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🏛️ HALL OF LEGENDS: Does the Whiskey with My Name Represent the Real Me?
What happens when a man's name becomes more famous than the principles he stood for? In this edition of Whiskey Lore's Hall of Legends, a legendary figure from Kentucky whiskey history returns to tell his story. He watched an industry increasingly embrace speed, efficiency, and profits, often at...
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🎙️ The Whiskey Six | Does Kentucky Need Another Contract Distiller?
Episode 1: Talking Eastern Light Distilling Company Does Kentucky really need another major distillery when whiskey production is slowing and millions of barrels are already aging in warehouses? In the debut of The Whiskey Six, six whiskey industry voices discuss Eastern Light Distilling's...
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📘BOURBON 4b: Did Bourbon Whiskey Have Its Roots in Pennsylvania?
Why would an established Pennsylvania distiller leave behind a thriving network of farms, mills, and family connections to start over in Kentucky? As we follow Jacob Spears from the Monongahela River to Bourbon County, an unexpected collection of marriages, land transactions, and family…
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📘BOURBON 4a: Did America's First Army Help Spread American Whiskey?
In the years following the American Revolution, the United States found itself fighting another war, this time against a powerful confederacy of Native nations determined to defend their lands north of the Ohio River. But how could a nearly bankrupt government feed, equip, and supply an army on…
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🎙️ Spy Trail Distillery: Talking Revolutionary War Spies and Black Tea Bourbon
A Revolutionary War spy network, a family-owned Long Island distillery, and a Bourbon steeped with black tea. This week, I'm joined by Mark and Ben Grindel of Spy Trail Distillery to explore the history behind their name and the business they've built around it. Mark explains how a casual visit…
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🎙️ Redwood Empire: The building of whiskey flavor in California's wine country
Episode 144: REDWOOD EMPIRE (Jeff Duckhorn and Lauren Patz) What happens when a California whiskey maker approaches Bourbon, rye, and single malt with the mindset of a winemaker? Drew Hannush welcomes Redwood Empire Master Distiller Jeff Duckhorn and Head Distiller and Master Blender Lauren Patz...
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🏛️ HALL OF LEGENDS: Straight to 51%
Who was it that came up with the 51% rule and the modern rules for straight whiskey in America? Meet today's legend on the latest episode of Whiskey Lore's Hall of Legends.
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Ep. 143 - HIGHLAND PARK DISTILLERY: Scotland in a Bottle
GUEST: Martin Markvardsen (Senior Global Brand Ambassador, Highland Park) What does it take to capture the flavors of Scotland in a bottle? In this episode, Drew Hannush sits down with Highland Park's Martin Markvardsen, who is celebrating 20 years with the Orkney distillery, to explore the...
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🏛️ HALL OF LEGENDS: Gilded Age Game Changer
Hero on one side of the border, villain on the other. Meet the second inductee into the Whiskey Lore Hall of Legends.
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🏛️ HALL OF LEGENDS: Irish Double Impact
Welcome to a new series, where we meet whiskey legends who helped bring us the spirits we know and love today. Today, you'll meet our first inductee. Stay tuned for details on how you can help determine future Whiskey Lore Hall of Legend inductees. Support my mission to bring real history to...
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📘BOURBON 3b: Did Bourbon Get Its Name from Barrels Marked "Old Bourbon"?
Did Bourbon get its name from barrels stamped "Old Bourbon"? Was charred oak the secret that transformed ordinary frontier whiskey into something new? And did Kentucky's earliest distillers really have a thriving market waiting for them in New Orleans? As we conclude Chapter 3, we'll examine the...
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📘BOURBON 3a: Did a Congressman Reveal the Inventor of Bourbon Whiskey?
In 1935, a Kentucky congressman interrupted a government expert during a hearing on Capitol Hill to correct what he believed was a serious mistake about Bourbon's history. He confidently named the man responsible for making America's first Bourbon whiskey. But how much did he really know? In this...
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📘BOURBON 2: The Birth of Bourbon
Kentucke Country is changing. The old frontier stockades are giving way to permanent farms, new roads, and growing communities. At the center of this transformation is James Garrard, a Revolutionary War veteran and Baptist preacher helping establish a new county with a name that will someday…
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📘BOURBON 1b: Before Bourbon, Kentucke Country's War for Survival
By 1780, Kentucke's frontier settlements were beginning to offer something their earliest inhabitants had struggled to find: a chance to build permanent homes, raise families, and grow enough corn to survive. Captain Isaac Ruddell believed his station along the Licking River might finally provide...
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🎙️ Ep. 142 - HARTFIELD & CO DISTILLERY: Bringing Bourbon Back to Bourbon County
GUEST: Jeremy Buchanan (Owner & Distiller, Hartfield & Co.) What does it mean to make Bourbon in Bourbon County? For Jeremy Buchanan, it means more than putting whiskey in a bottle, it means reconnecting with a forgotten distilling tradition that helped give Bourbon its name. In this episode…
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📘BOURBON 1a: Did Kentucky's First Settlers Really Make Whiskey?
The story of Kentucky Bourbon often begins with settlers arriving on the frontier, planting corn, and turning their surplus grain into whiskey. But that familiar picture skips over a rather important question: how did those settlers survive long enough to build farms, let alone distilleries? As...
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🎙️ Ep. 141 - McCONNELL'S IRISH WHISKEY: New Home at Belfast's Crumlin Road Gaol
GUESTS: John Kelly (CEO) & Graeme Millar (Master Distiller), Belfast Distillery Company Belfast was once one of the world's great whiskey capitals, but for decades its distilling heritage lay dormant. In this episode, Drew Hannush reunites with Belfast Distillery Company CEO John Kelly and Master...
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🎙️ Ep. 140 - OLD 55 DISTILLERY: 100% Indiana Farm to Glass
GUEST: Jason Fruits (Old 55 Distillery CEO & Co-Founder) Some distillers inherit tradition. Others build their own path from the ground up. In this episode, Drew Hannush sits down with Old 55 Distillery co-founder and distiller Jason Fruits to explore how a family grain business became one of...
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📘The Lost History of Bourbon: Why Its Real Origin Story Matters
Ask where Bourbon got its name and you'll probably hear one of two stories: Bourbon County, Kentucky, or Bourbon Street in New Orleans. But what if neither familiar explanation tells us much about how Bourbon actually became America's Native Spirit? After years of researching nineteenth-century...
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🎙️ Ep. 139 - LOST LANTERN: Blending 50 States of Bourbon
GUEST: Nora Ganley-Roper & Adam Polonski (Lost Lantern Founders) Independent bottlers have long helped whiskey lovers discover hidden gems in Scotland, but the concept is only beginning to take hold in America. In this episode, Drew Hannush sits down with Lost Lantern founders Nora Ganley-Roper…
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🎙️ Ep. 138 - JOHN PAWLUK OF TWISTED COW: Distilling Curiosity and Asking "Why?"
GUEST: John Pawluk (Twisted Cow Distillery Founder and Distiller) Some distillers master tradition. Others ask why the tradition exists in the first place. In this episode, Drew Hannush sits down with Twisted Cow founder and distiller John Pawluk, whose gift of curiosity has led him to challenge...
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🎙️ Ep. 137 - SPIRITS OF LAWRENCEBURG DOCUMENTARY: With Bo Cumberland and Jerry Daniels
Long before Bourbon became synonymous with Bardstown and Frankfort, Lawrenceburg was home to a network of distillers whose names helped shape the industry itself. Families like the Ripys, Hawkins, Bonds, McBrayers, and Dowlings built businesses, mentored one another, and left a legacy that still...
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✈️ WF093 to FLORIDA: Indian River Distillery and Treasure Coast Spirits Festival
Drew Hannush heads to Florida's Treasure Coast for a virtual visit to Indian River Distillery in Vero Beach. Founded by Ray Hooker and his family, the distillery combines Florida history with a passion for rum, bourbon, gin, and American single malt. Along the way, Ray shares stories of pirates,...
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📚 Four Roses: Did Seagram's Really Ruin a Great Whiskey Brand?
For decades, Four Roses was one of America's most popular whiskey brands, with glamorous advertising campaigns and a reputation that extended well beyond the United States. Yet somewhere along the way, a name once associated with quality became a bottom-shelf whiskey that Bourbon enthusiasts…
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✈️ WF092 to GEORGIA: Thirteenth Colony Distillery
Southern Georgia isn't the first place most whiskey travelers think of, which makes 13th Colony Distillery one of those discoveries that feels like you've stumbled onto something special. In this episode, Drew Hannush heads to Americus, Georgia, to visit one of the state's oldest operating…
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📚 Four Roses: How Did a Whiskey Brand Survive Prohibition and Thrive?
When Paul Jones Jr. died in 1895, his nephews inherited a successful whiskey business and a name that would eventually become one of America's most recognizable brands. But Four Roses wasn't always the whiskey they were most interested in selling. As overproduction threatened the industry, states...
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✈️ WF091 to ALABAMA: Clyde May's Conecuh Ridge Distillery
For decades, the name Clyde May has been synonymous with Alabama whiskey, even though the brand hasn't had an Alabama home. In this episode, Drew Hannush travels to Troy, Alabama, to visit Conecuh Ridge Distillery and sit down with Clyde May's grandson, L.C. May. Together, they explore the story…
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📚 Four Roses: Did a Corsage of Red Roses Inspire the Name?
According to a romantic tale told about Four Roses, the whiskey got its name when a young Paul Jones Jr. proposed marriage to a Southern belle who promised to wear a corsage of four red roses if her answer was yes. It's a charming story, but does it hold up to historical scrutiny? To find out, we...
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✈️ WF090 to ALABAMA: John Emerald Distilling Company
What began with a desire to spend more time with family led Jimmy Sharp and his father to transform an old cotton warehouse beside the railroad tracks in Opelika, Alabama, into one of the state's most distinctive distilleries. In this episode, Drew Hannush visits John Emerald Distilling Company…
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✈️ WF089 to TENNESSEE: Chattanooga Whiskey's Experimental Distillery
Chattanooga Whiskey helped bring legal distilling back to Chattanooga, but the Experimental Distillery is where the real magic happens. In this episode, Drew Hannush returns to downtown Chattanooga to reconnect with co-founder Tim Piersant and explore the small-scale distillery where Tennessee…
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🎙️ Ep. 136 - TALISKER DISTILLERY: A Taste of History with Ewan Morgan
When it comes to Scottish distilleries with whiskies that match the landscape, Talisker is one of my favorite examples: sea and smoke. For the longest time, as the sole distillery on the Isle of Skye, it served as the perfect punctuation mark on any trip to the island. Seemingly isolated along…
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✈️🌟 WF088 to Scotland: Author Angela Youngman
Scotland has long been one of the great whiskey pilgrimage destinations, but planning the perfect whisky journey across the Highlands, Islands, Speyside, Campbeltown, and beyond can feel overwhelming. In this bonus episode of Whiskey Lore's Whiskey Flights, I sit down with travel writer and…
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📚 Is There Really a Right Way to Spell Whiskey?
Spend enough time visiting distilleries and you're bound to hear the rule: Ireland and America spell whiskey with an E, while Scotland, Canada, and Japan leave it out. Some even suggest you can remember the difference by looking for an E in the country's name. But where did these spelling...
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🎙️ Ep. 135 - SESPE CREEK DISTILLERY: John Campbell's Move From Scotch to California Bourbon
Welcome back to a former guest, John Campbell, who we met back in Interview 63 when we chronicled his 27 years at the legendary Laphroaig Distillery on Islay. Back then, he was taking on the challenge of making Lowland Scotch at Lochlea. Today, he's making an even bigger jump, leaving the island…
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🎙️ Ep. 134 - JERRY DANIELS: 7 People Who SHOULD be in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame
Join me as I welcome back Jerry Daniels of Stone Fences Tours for a step beyond distillery visits and into the heart of Bourbon history. We'll tackle the question who truly belongs in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame that has been left behind? We go back and forth in a snake draft, each bringing...
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🎙️ Ep. 133 - RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE: Diving into the Malting Process
Join me as I sit down with Brent Manning, co-founder of Riverbend Malt House, to uncover how two self-described "sustainability geeks" learned the science of malting, helped support the rise of "Beer City U.S.A.," while starting humbly with a one-ton floor malting setup in Asheville. We'll dive...
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📚 The Whiskey Law That Nearly Started a Civil War
In 1894, a bloody confrontation at a South Carolina railroad depot left four men dead, an angry governor demanding military intervention, and soldiers refusing to take up arms against their fellow citizens. What could possibly have brought the state to the brink of rebellion? It all began with an...
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🎙️ Ep. 132 - WHISKEY LORE AND THE BOURBON ROAD: A Special Simulcasted Edition
Not too long ago, I was on my way up to Kentucky to check out the Beam Conference and when I contacted my friend Todd Ritter to see if we could sync up, he offered me a guest spot on the Bourbon Road Podcast. Enjoy this simulcasted edition of The Bourbon Road, hosted by my friends Todd and Jim.…
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🎙️ Ep. 131 - LOCH LOMOND: Scotland's Most Flexible Distillery
Join me as I chat with Gary Mills, the Award-winning Brand Ambassador and Visitor's Experience Manager for Loch Lomond Distillery - a whisky that is making its way across the U.S. thanks to the Foley Family's distribution. We'll dive into the unique history of the distillery, the stills that set…
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📚 Was Jack Daniel's Really America's First Registered Distillery?
Take a tour of Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and you're likely to hear that it was America's first registered distillery, dating all the way back to 1866. The claim even appears in the National Register of Historic Places. But how did a young distiller in post-Civil War...
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🎙️ Ep. 130 - GRANDADDY MIMMS DISTILLERY: Tommy Townsend Talks Waylon, his Grandaddy's Recipe, Sorghum, and High Proof Moonshine
Let's mix two of my favorite subjects today - music and whiskey - as I stop by Tommy Townsend's North Georgia distillery Grandaddy Mimms. As a musician, Tommy has many ties to Waylon Jennings, we'll chat about that (and there is a bonus episode with even more conversation around music, free for...
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📙 What Did We Get Wrong About Jack Daniel and Uncle Nearest?
The story of Jack Daniel and Nathan "Uncle Nearest" Green has become one of the most talked-about chapters in American whiskey history. According to the familiar account, an enslaved distiller named Nearest taught a young Jack Daniel how to make whiskey, setting the stage for one of the world's...
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🎙️ Ep. 129 - The ESTATE WHISKEY ALLIANCE: What it is and how it benefits whiskey fans and distilleries alike
Last week, I hit the road and headed up to Lexington, KY and attended my first James B. Beam Institute Industry Conference. It was a fantastic opportunity to shake the hands of some great people who I've either met through visits to their distilleries or by zoom interviews. During the event, I…
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📚 Were the Salem Witch Trials Caused by Rye Madness?
What could a grain commonly used to make whiskey have to do with the Salem Witch Trials? In 1976, a California graduate student made headlines with a theory suggesting that the strange behavior of Salem's accusers might have been caused by a poisonous fungus growing on rye. Scientists challenged...
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🎙️ Ep. 128 - Developing Character Through Grain, Wood, and the Art of the Blend with Ari Sussman of WHISKEY JYPSI
Join me for a conversation with whiskey maker Ari Sussman as we dive into the story behind Whiskey JYPSI, co-founded by Raj Alva and singer-songwriter Eric Church, learn about Ari's path into the industry, from politics to winemaking in France, international bartending, and eventually studying at...
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📚 Was Colonel E.H. Taylor Really the Hero of the Bottled-in-Bond Act?
Ask who was responsible for the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 and you're likely to hear the name Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. After all, the Kentucky distiller is celebrated for helping protect whiskey drinkers from the questionable spirits being sold in the late nineteenth century. But when you go…
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📚 Was Being "Grandpa's Drink" the Reason for the 1980s Whiskey Depression?
Ask why American whiskey fell out of favor in the 1970s and '80s and you're likely to hear that Bourbon had become Grandpa's drink. Younger drinkers wanted something different. But was it really that simple? With today's whiskey industry facing its own slowdown, predictions of another whiskey...
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📚 Did George Thorpe Make America's First Corn Whiskey?
Some whiskey history books credit an English colonist named George Thorpe with making America's first corn whiskey in Virginia around 1620. And there is evidence that seems to support the claim, including a letter mentioning a drink made from Indian corn and an old copper still listed among his...
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✈️ WF087 to Florida: TIMBER CREEK DISTILLERY
Florida's Emerald Coast may be known for beaches and sunshine, but just north of Destin, two neighbors turned an engineering mindset and a love of brewing into one of the state's most inventive distilleries. In this episode, Drew Hannush heads to Timber Creek Distillery to meet co-founders Cam…
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✈️ WF086 to Ohio: WATERSHED DISTILLERY
What started with two Columbus entrepreneurs and a vision for building something local has grown into one of Ohio's largest and most influential distilleries. In this episode, Drew Hannush visits Watershed Distillery to meet cask manager Ryan Venrick and brand ambassador Tommy Householder and...
About this show
The Whiskey Lore Podcast, hosted by best-selling travel author Drew Hannush, is a captivating exploration of whiskey's rich history, myths, and modern craft distilling culture, appealing to both enthusiasts and curious newcomers.Covering bourbon, Scotch, Irish, rye, and more, the podcast offers three formats: Stories, which delve into historical narratives like the origins of Bottled-in-Bond or Ireland's whiskey rebirth, Interviews which documents whiskey history and the people making it, and Whiskey Flights, a weekly series focused on craft distillery travel.Whiskey Flights transports listeners to craft distilleries worldwide, offering virtual tours that highlight unique operations, local grains, and innovative spirits. Episodes feature chats with founders—like Brian Cummings of Great Northern Distilling or Guy Whitehead of Lucky Guys Distillery—covering topics from potato vodka to bitters crafting. Each Flight emphasizes the pleasures of distillery visits, sharing practical trave
Hosted by
Drew Hannush