Drinks Adventures - Wine, beer, whisky, gin & more with James Atkinson

We're joined this episode by Elizabeth McCall, master distiller of Woodford Reserve in Kentucky. Elizabeth was not really a whiskey enthusiast when she first joined parent company Brown-Forman in 2009 as a member of the research and development department. But she soon developed a taste for it, becoming a master taster in 2015, before being effectively anointed as successor to the legendary Chris Morris when she was appointed assistant master distiller in 2018. When Elizabeth took the reigns in early 2023, she became only the third master distiller in Woodford Reserve’s 28-year history. In this special episode of Drinks Adventures – produced in partnership with Woodford Reserve – we’ll hear about Elizabeth’s unique career pathway into whiskey, before getting in to the DNA of the Woodford Reserve brand. Woodford Reserve is the only distillery that makes all four types of American whiskey – bourbon, rye, malt and wheat – ­under the same brand name. We’ll explore those core range products, as well as the groundbreaking whiskies released as part of the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection, in this brilliant conversation with Elizabeth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haydon Morgan and Damien Ryan are the founders of First Light Brewing Co, a start-up in Wollongong, NSW. You may recall Haydon’s voice from the special documentary episode we did on Australian brewing legend Chuck Hahn a few years ago now. Haydon and Damien are both longstanding residents of the Illawarra region and they met each other while working at Lion, where they realised they had complementary skillsets for setting up a brewery of their own. Haydon finished up with Lion in 2023 as brewery manager for the craft beer division, and Damien, a drinks industry sales veteran, exited the business this year. With such an accomplished brewer at the helm, I had no doubt whatsoever that First Light will be putting out some superb beers. But I was interested to hear a bit more about their business model, given some of the challenges the beer industry is currently facing, as previously explored on the Drinks Adventures podcast throughout 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we meet Ian Schmidt and Vic Orlow, founders of South Australia’s Tin Shed Distilling, the company behind Iniquity Whisky and other brands. The original tin shed was in Adelaide’s inner west, adjacent to Ian’s other business manufacturing flagpoles, of all things. Ian has since exited the flagpole game to focus on whisky, and he and Vic have relocated their distillery to a different tin shed in the Adelaide Hills. There, they will soon be able to open their doors to the public for the very first time in the company’s history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we meet two of the founders of Queensland Rum Day, Matt Hobson of Cavu Distilling and Nil Desperandum Rum, and Duncan Littler of Bundaberg Rum. The second ever Queensland Rum Day is coming up this Saturday 2 November 2024, and this year brings with it a special collaborative rum showcasing liquid from four distilleries, two of which I’ve already mentioned – the others being Beenleigh and Kalki Moon. They’re calling themselves The Rum Consortium, and there are just 1920 bottles available of their 2024 Limited Edition Blend, which is the first ever time that stalwarts Bundaberg and Beenleigh have ever combined their spirits in the same bottle. I caught up with Matt and Duncan to find out about this historic rum release, the evolving rum industry in Queensland, and the significance of this new event that I expect we will be hearing much more about in years to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices