Off Profile - A Highly Spirited Conversation

We sit down with TJ Gamble, better known as Brewzle, to talk bourbon hunting, the challenges facing craft distilleries, barrel picks, and whether whiskey nerds care more about what's on the label than what's in the glass. Plus some blind tastings, questionable guesses, and plenty of shit-talking.

Seth Dettling joins us to talk about the philosophy behind Dettling 1867, from better ingredients and obsessive barrel tracking to aging whiskey in Alabama heat. We get into experimental mash bills, pushing oak extraction to the limit, why he’s skeptical of finishing great bourbon, and the years of trial, error, and “redneck engineering” behind making whiskey his own way.

We sat down with Ari Klafter at Thornton Distillery to talk about what it actually takes to make whiskey worth waiting for.Ari walks us through Thornton's American single malt program, from choosing specialty malts and distilling off-grain to harvesting Illinois peat along the Mississippi River. We get into whiskey terroir, why grain flavor deserves more attention, whether consumers actually support the craft producers they claim to love, and how barrel selection can completely change a spirit.We also explore Thornton's evolving solera cask, upcoming experiments with unusual barrels and a potential cigar blend.And because this is Off Profile, we somehow end up discussing a Prohibition-era gun discovered in the distillery, a questionable World Cup analogy, and what happens when you record a podcast underneath a dripping well.A highly spirited conversation about whiskey, patience, experimentation, and a little bit of chaos.

What goes into making great whiskey, and what happens when an experiment goes completely wrong?We sit down with Brett Connors, the Whiskey Wizard of Castle & Key Distillery, to talk about his journey from giving distillery tours to blending whiskey and developing some of the distillery's most interesting releases.We get into the reality of making whiskey, from throwing away their earliest distillate to experimenting with unusual finishing casks, including a rye that went from tasting like Robitussin to Cherry Cola.Brett also shares the story behind Roots of Ruin Gin, why Castle & Key's unique warehouses produce such different flavor profiles, and how blending for other brands helped shape his approach to making whiskey.We cover:How Brett got started at Castle & Key and became a blenderWhy a distillery's first barrel isn't necessarily its bestThe experiments behind Castle & Key's finished whiskeysHow Roots of Ruin Gin was createdWhy warehouse conditions can completely change a whiskeyThe challenges of creating whiskey that's both delicious and commercially viableWhy Brett believes Castle & Key's rye is its best whiskeyA conversation about experimentation, learning from failures, and the work that goes into making the spirits we love.Off Profile: A Highly Spirited Conversation.#OffProfile #CastleAndKey #BrettConnors #Whiskey #Bourbon

Angela D’Orazio has spent most of her career exploring what happens when you push whisky a little further.Before becoming Master Blender at Compass Box, Angela spent nearly two decades helping build Mackmyra and working in an environment that gave her enormous freedom to experiment. That included everything from green tea to an AI-assisted whisky project with Microsoft.We talk about what it was like leaving that world for Scotch, why she initially felt like an imposter at Compass Box, and what she wants to bring to a company already known for challenging convention.Angela takes us through blending, transparency, Scotch regulations, building flavor profiles years into the future, nearly 50,000 casks moving into a new Compass Box warehouse, and the balance between science, consistency and leaving some mystery in whisky.We also get into her friendship and work with Nancy Fraley, slow reduction and élevage, introducing bourbon drinkers to Scotch, unusual collaborations, and whether enough data could eventually create an AI version of Angela herself.Or, as we eventually decided to call her: Darth Angela.