When the Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends invited us to come to their city and lead a benefit tasting in honor of the 11 people killed in the October 27, 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, we didn't hesitate. This episode was recorded at the tasting on November 26, 2018 in Pittsburgh, with all of the proceeds going to benefit the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in memory of the Tree of Life shooting victims. Dad's Hat, Powers, Amrut importer Raj Sabharwal, and Liberty Pole Spirits donated the whiskies for the evening, and Christian Kahle won a raffle for one of the spots on our tasting panel. He joined Bobby Long and Scott Ritenbaugh from the Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends and public broadcasting personality Rick Sebak to taste the Dad's Hat Pre-Prohibition Style Pennsylvania Rye, Powers Three Swallow, Amrut Fusion, and Liberty Pole's Peated Bourbon.

We're tasting Bottled in Bond Bourbons this time around with members of the Monmouth Whisky Club in New Jersey. Rich Romano, Michael Timpanero, and Glenn Fuchs tasted the Henry McKenna 10-year-old Single Barrel, the Old Forester 1897 Bottled in Bond, and Old Granddad Bonded while other club members chimed in from the audience. Bottled in Bond whiskies have become more popular in recent years because of demand from bartenders for higher-proof whiskies that don't get diluted as much in cocktails, but they're also excellent on their own and usually offer good value for the price.

We've assembled a panel of podcasters and a longtime WhiskyCast listener for this Tasting Panel session recorded on location at the Podcast Movement 2018 conference in Philadelphia. Elsie Escobar, Chris Liro, Sean MacCready, and Mike Joachim nosed and tasted a flight of rye whiskies: Heaven Hill's Pikesville Rye, Beam's Old Overholt Bottled in Bond Rye, and High West's 2018 edition of its Yippee Ki-Yay rye.

This month, we put our panel to the test and had them taste three whiskies blind. The only thing Davin de Kergommeaux, Mark Bylok, and Frank McDonald knew was that they were tasting peated single malts from Scotland, and we'll keep you guessing, too...right up until we reveal the whiskies and surprise all three panelists! Our panel gathered at the Wonderful World of Whisky Show at the NAV Centre in Cornwall, Ontario, and we're grateful to Ian Bentley and the entire staff of the NAV Centre for their help in making this episode possible.

This time around, we're on the road in Victoria, British Columbia to taste four whiskies from four different countries with some of the folks from The Strath whisky and spirits shop as part of the annual Victoria Whisky Festival. Pat Dunlop, Adam Bradshaw, Dan Rampling, and Emily de Korte tasted the Bernheim 7-year-old Straight Wheat Whiskey from Kentucky, Penderyn's Madeira Finish Welsh single malt, the Glenglassaugh Revival single malt from Scotland, and Nikka's Coffey Malt from Japan.