Where Craft Meets Creativity: James B. Beam Distilling Co. Launches Creator Campus

New open call gives podcasters, musicians and multidisciplinary creators the opportunity to create original work in one of America’s most iconic whiskey destinations.

CLERMONT, Ky. (August 2026) – James B. Beam Distilling Co. (JBBDCo.), home to American whiskey brands including Jim Beam®, the world’s no. 1 bourbon, Knob Creek® and Basil Hayden®, today announced the launch of Creator Campus, a new initiative that invites podcasters, musicians, filmmakers, digital creators and storytellers to apply for the opportunity to develop original work at its historic Clermont, Kentucky campus.

Rooted in more than 200 years of American whiskey-making tradition, Creator Campus transforms a portion of the JBBDCo. campus into a dedicated creative environment where heritage and contemporary culture intersect. Selected participants will receive access to the distillery’s expansive grounds and distinctive spaces to bring projects to life – from recording podcasts and filming content to producing music and hosting collaborative retreats.

More than a production space, Creator Campus offers an immersive experience at the home of Jim Beam®. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the distillery through whiskey tastings, educational experiences, restaurants, special releases and signature events, including the Clermont Supper Club series, while drawing inspiration from the craftsmanship, people and traditions that have shaped the Beam family legacy for generations.

WHY JAMES B. BEAM DISTILLING CO. IS LAUNCHING CREATOR CAMPUS

For decades, the James B. Beam Distilling Co. campus has welcomed visitors from around the world to experience the history and craftsmanship behind the spirit. With Creator Campus, JBBDCo. is expanding that legacy by creating a place where today’s creators can produce original work in an authentic setting unlike a traditional studio.

As creators increasingly seek distinctive, real-world locations that inspire storytelling and collaboration, Creator Campus offers access to one of America’s most iconic distilleries as both a creative workspace and cultural destination. The initiative reflects JBBDCo.’s ongoing commitment to craftsmanship, hospitality and bringing people together through meaningful experiences.

“At its core, JBBDCo. has always been about craft – making something meaningful to be shared, bringing people together,” said Freddie Noe, eighth-generation master distiller at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. “Creator Campus builds on that tradition by opening our doors in a new way, inviting creators to draw inspiration from this place as I have and create something entirely their own.”

HOW TO APPLY  

Creators interested in applying can visit HERE to learn more and submit an application.  Emerging and established creators including podcasters, musicians, filmmakers, digital creators and storytellers are encouraged to apply for the opportunity to bring their creative vision to life at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. campus.

Selected participants will be chosen based on the originality of their ideas, their creative vision and their alignment with the collaborative spirit and storytelling that define the JBBDCo. brand.

Creator Campus is open only to content creators and influencers who are 21 years of age or older. Additional eligibility requirements and official terms and conditions apply.

About James B. Beam Distilling Co.

Founded by America’s first family of bourbon, the James B. Beam Distilling Co. has crafted genuine American Whiskey since 1795. Its portfolio includes globally coveted and award-winning whiskey brands including Jim Beam®, Basil Hayden®, Knob Creek®, Booker’s®, Baker’s®, Little Book®, Legent®, Old Tub®, Old Overholt®, Old Crow®, and Old Grand-Dad®. Maintaining the whiskey traditions of eight generations of family distillers while advancing the category through innovation, the Beam family has defined what American Whiskey could be and should be for more than 225 years. The James B. Beam Distilling Co. crafts American Whiskey with genuine, quality ingredients that are distilled and aged without compromise at its family distilleries in Clermont, Kentucky.

About Suntory Global Spirits

As a world leader in premium spirits, Suntory Global Spirits inspires the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people, in harmony with nature. Known for its craftsmanship of premium American whiskeys, including Jim Beam® and Maker’s Mark®; Japanese whiskies, including Yamazaki® and Hibiki®; and leading Scotch brands including Laphroaig®, Suntory Global Spirits also produces leading brands such as El Tesoro® and Hornitos® tequilas and Roku® gin, and is a world leader in Ready-To-Drink cocktails, with brands like -196™ (minus one-nine-six) and On The Rocks™ Bartender Created Cocktails.

A global company with approximately 6,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, Suntory Global Spirits is driven by its core values of Growing for Good, Yatte Minahare and Giving Back to Society, and aims to have a positive impact on the planet, consumers and communities. Headquartered in New York City, Suntory Global Spirits is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan. For more information, visit www.suntoryglobalspirits.com.

Nikka “Taketsuru” White Label Pure Malt Japanese Whisky $64.99 View

The new blend from Nikka replaces the old “Black Label,” but continues to offer excellent quality. A blend of malt whiskies from Yoichi and Miyagikyo (and perhaps elsewhere), the new label does nothing to diminish the quality. This refinement of the original blend relies more heavily on the coal fired pot stills at Yoicihi than the gas fired stills at Miyagikyo. There’s an additional sherry element and a slightly reduced peated element. The blend remains extremely polished and satisfying offering a wide array of complex malt flavors. The age, while not indicated on the label, seems to have improved slightly from the previous blend offering a more integrated and complex profile that relies on balance and elegance as the key factors in the flavor profile. This is the quintessential “Pure Malt” which has become synonymous with Japanese Whisky even in the modern era.

Nikka “Yoichi” Japanese Single Malt Whisky (750ml) (Elsewhere $102)  $74.99 View

Winner of the Whisky Advocate’s 2016 “Japanese Whisky of the Year” award, Nikka’s latest release from Yoichi distillery no longer carries an age statement, but it does bring a classically Japanese whisky profile back to the market. All the delicacy, grace, and subtle complexity is alive and well in this release, buried deep in a whisper of malt for those who take the time to let it be heard. The first sip is almost ghostly, but it’s the second and third return that yield the slightest hint of peat smoke, the creamiest of malts, and the lovely roundness of sweet stone fruit. This is textbook Japanese whisky: a flavor reserved so as not to overwhelm potential food pairings like sushi or other delicate offerings, yet a wonderful depth of flavor done with the slightest of hands. Yoichi is located on Japan’s Hokkaido island where such food pairings are prevalent. It’s definitely a single malt with a sense of place. The gentle smell and flavor of the sea linger long on the finish. This whiskey meets all the criteria of “Japanese whisky” defined by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association. 45% ABV.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Our latest ‘Heresy’ release, Batch 42: Highland peaty potion casts a flavoursome spell, highlighting the sweet spot where peated and unpeated whiskies from the same Highland distillery meet. This 10-year-old single malt was created by maturing peated and unpeated whiskies separately in first fill bourbon barrels for seven years, providing texture, creaminess and marzipan. After that, we blended those whiskies and filled our new potion into a combination of fresh oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry butts, bringing layered dried fruits and molasses into the mix. The resulting release evokes campfires and barbecues making it a dreamy end-of-summer sipper for last-minute getaways.

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The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

What is a Vertical Whisky Tasting?

A great way to understand a distillery is to taste several of its expressions side by side. That’s the idea behind a vertical tasting. Rather than comparing different producers, you instead explore how one distillery’s character develops through maturation and cask influence. As whisky writer Dave Broom describes it, you’re discovering the distillery’s “DNA”, its unique thumbprint, and seeing how that identity evolves in different iterations.

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THE ARDARA DISTILLERY RELEASES THE SECOND EDITION OF

ARDARA SINGLE MALT IRISH WHISKEY

The Ardara Distillery, home of Sliabh Liag Distillers, released the 2026 Edition of Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey on Saturday 8th August 2026 – the second release of the heavily peated Donegal single malt. To mark the release, the distillery opened its doors for free tours throughout Ardara Show Day, with tastings of the 2026 Edition taking place at the Ardara Show.

Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey began its journey last year on Ardara Show Day, where its first pour took place with the community that had been part of the distillery’s story from the beginning. Visitors to Ardara Distillery saw the three copper stills from Forsyths at work and heard the story of illicit distilling, the family recipe that inspired Ardara, and how that lost craft of Donegal smoky Irish whiskey had made its return.

The 2026 Edition is the second release of Ardara Single Malt, the whiskey created to reclaim a lost part of Donegal’s whiskey heritage: its smoke. A century ago, Donegal was known for making a smoky whiskey unlike any other. Barley was dried over burning turf and whiskey was made heavily peated, much of it outside the law. Then the law closed in, Irish whiskey turned smooth, and Donegal’s smoke faded from view. Ardara is committed to bringing it back, and that commitment has its roots in a family recipe.

Pictured is James Doherty with the very first bottles off the line for the second release of Ardara Single Malt

James Doherty, founder of The Ardara Distillery, said:

“At Ardara, we’re bringing back smoke. Six weeks before she died, my grandmother gave me the whiskey recipe that had belonged to my grandfather, an illicit distiller in Donegal. By then, the style he had made had almost disappeared. Irish whiskey had become smooth, and the smoky character once associated with Donegal was fading from memory. This whiskey is made his way: heavily peated, all grain in and triple distilled.”

“When we released the first Ardara Single Malt in 2025, we took the ambitious step of releasing 10,000 bottles, and we’re delighted with the way that whiskey has performed in Germany, France, the UK and the global Duty-Free market. We’re just about to ship Ardara to the USA. For us, that’s hugely encouraging. It shows that there is an appetite for this style of Irish whiskey beyond Donegal, and that the story we are telling about the return of smoky Irish whiskey is beginning to resonate around the world.”

Adding to this, James said:

“We want to bring back that love of smoky spirits, not by simply recreating the past, but by making the whiskey properly and giving that lost craft a place in the world again. That’s what my wife Moira and I set out to do when we started building the distillery here in the south-west of Donegal.”

“The second release of Ardara Single Malt is an important moment for us. It shows that what began with my grandfather’s recipe and our determination to reclaim Donegal’s smoke is now becoming an ongoing whiskey tradition of its own. The 2026 Edition is the clearest statement yet of our purpose: to reclaim Donegal’s lost whiskey craft and prove smoky Irish whiskey can stand with the best in the world.”

Ardara Single Malt is made using what the distillery calls The Ardara Method: heavily peated, all grain in and triple distilled. The malt is heavily peated to create its distinctive sweet, nutty smoke. All the grain is kept in throughout fermentation and into the wash still, building a fuller, weightier spirit with the character to carry the smoke. The whiskey is then triple distilled before resting in 6,000-litre Solera Vats for 72 hours. It is then emptied to 1,200 litres and filled into casks, creating an eternal link of continuity from the very first bottle to the last.

The result is a heavily peated Irish single malt with layers of sweet smoke, orchard fruit and rolled tobacco; powerful but not overpowering, smoky but not medicinal.

“There is a dragonfly on every bottle of Ardara, drawn from the ones found around the pond at the distillery,” James added. “A dragonfly spends most of its life underwater, out of sight, before breaking the surface and taking flight. For generations, Donegal’s smoky whiskey tradition was much the same: once a defining part of the place, then hidden from view as the style disappeared from Irish whiskey. We’re not just bringing that tradition back; we’re giving it a future.”

At 46% ABV, Ardara Single Malt opens sweet, fruity and nutty, with a hint of waxiness wrapped in sweet pipe smoke. Hot beignets and poached pears arrive first on the palate, before deepening into roasted coconut, almond, leather and rolled tobacco. Sweet smoke and campfire follow, giving way to a long, sweet baked-apple finish.

The 2026 Edition of Ardara Single Malt Cask Strength, bottled at 60.9% ABV, brings the same character with greater intensity: green melon and husky citrus on the nose, followed by beignets, honeyed pear, coconut, leather and rolled tobacco on the palate. A hint of menthol carries through to a smoky, earthy finish of baked apple and raisin.

Overholt Rye Release | Overholt Extra Aged Cask Strength 11YR

Over the last few years there’s been a refocus on Overholt, as evident through the launch of A.Overholt and the Extra Aged Cask Strength brand extension. Today, we celebrate the launch of Old Overholt Extra Aged Cask Strength 11YR 2026 Edition.

This expression of Old Overholt’s Kentucky Style Rye delivers a distinct & rich liquid, full of balanced rye spice flavor complimented by notes of vanilla, caramel, and charred oak complexity. Released once a year in small quantities, this expression offers a high-value vintage style liquid designed and blended from select warehouses and highly curated barrels.

Year 4 of this annual release launches as an 11yr, unfiltered, Cask Strength American Rye. Distilled and barreled in the spring season of 2014 and laid down in 3 distinct warehouses in Clermont Kentucky to ensure incredible consistency and gentle flavor mellowing over time.

TASTING NOTES

Non-Chill Filtered for a more robust flavor

Color – Golden Tawny

Aroma – Bold, vanilla & baking spice underpinned with hints of tobacco

Taste – Allspice, sweet vanilla and caramel, charred oak

Finish – Pleasant, full bodied with lingering notes of black pepper

Old Overholt Extra Aged Cask Strength 11YR is 125.6 proof with SRP of $109.99 for a 750mL bottle.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

We’re delighted to reveal that we’ve hit a home run at the 2026 Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters, winning Gold with all three of our ‘Heresy’ entries. The SMWS hat-trick includes Batch 39: The five regions, Batch 40: Fruit bomb, and Batch 41: Incognito. So if you’ve never tried one of our award-winning sips, this is a rare moment, as all three are available to enjoy on our website – but only while stocks last.

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The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Laphroaig Willem Dafoe 14YO, 53.7%

THE VIDEO

This, on paper, is one of the most refreshing celebrity involved whisky collaborations. Willem Dafoe has been gracing our screens in numerous blockbuster and independent films, all doing it with his own unique charm. A charm that is reflected in the classic style of Laphroaig. A fourteen year old single malt that is initially matured in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in ex-Oloroso casks for two years; it retains a wanted amount of boggy, peaty Laphroaig with some slick sherry sweetness to add texture and complexity. The flavours move between classic Islay and through into some wonderful Asian cuisine aromas and tastes, finishing with an earthy, concentrated aroma that morphs between salty & sweet. There’s no denying that this is a great tasting single malt from Laphroaig. Now for the elephant in the room.

The tasting notes on this aren’t that different from the core bottle of Laphroaig 10 Year Old Sherry bottled at 48%. I love that bottle and it’s one of the thongs I wanted Laphroaig to do for so long, this Willem Dafoe selection is higher in ABV and a little older, but I’m not quite sure that it’s worth doubling the price for. This would have been an absolute home run of a bottle if the price point was below £100, but given the higher RRP of £135/£140 isn’t particularly justified for me. It’s a unique collaboration and an interesting liquid, but being in the same vein as one of your most popular core range bottles leaves this sticking out like a sore thumb. Naturally, the cask selection is what it is, you bottle what tastes good. I do think they missed out by not going deep into the Dafoe lore and calling this The Green Goblin release. In general, it’s missing the point with its price and a lot of the humour that normally comes with Laphroaig marketing. Again, the idea of luxury making the purchase by consumers a doubt when they see the price.

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Circle City Whiskey Co. Celebrates Success As It Expands 50/50 Club Whiskey Program Offering

As Circle City charts significant growth over the last year, its expanding 50/50 Club program brings together two unique barrels of whiskey from different distilleries into a new rebarreled blend that showcases a truly distinct custom creation process.

INDIANAPOLIS — August 10th, 2026 —  Circle City Whiskey Co., an independent bottler of the finest in American whiskey, is proud to announce the expansion of its popular 50/50 Club offering into several Midwestern states. The result of a very deliberate blending process, the 50/50 Club whiskeys represent the pinnacle in the idea of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. This expansion comes as the brand undergoes significant positive growth and growing industry recognition of its quality offerings.

Circle City owner Drew Black, looking to grow his company’s offerings, liked the idea of blending so much that he looked to his existing stock of sourced American whiskey barrels, aiming to utilize barrels of an outstanding nature that didn’t quite fit into his brand’s very popular single barrel program. It is from this that  the 50/50 Club concept was born.

“The goal of the 50/50 Club was to create whiskeys that are truly unique to Circle City Whiskey Company,” said Black. “It was also our first foray into blending completely different whiskeys from different distilleries, so I wanted to keep things simple to start. We definitely accomplished our goal of creating something unlike anything else and our supporters were enamored with the results, so much so, that bourbon clubs and retail customers began asking for their own 50/50 Club blends.”

The 50/50 Club creation journey begins with the careful selection of two barrels of distinctly different whiskeys from different distilleries, which Black feels will complement each other as a new whiskey after going through a custom creation process. A rigorous selection technique involves tasting through up to 20 barrels before the perfect potential combination is found.

After bringing together the chosen barrels into a single liquid, the newly blended brown spirit is then rebarreled into two barrels (either the original two barrels or a new charred oak barrel), creating two distinct versions of the blend – a key step of the 50/50 Club journey towards being bottled. The resulting new whiskey which emerges fits tightly into the Circle City ethos of intentionally created offerings that are grounded in the aspects of transparency, quality, and value.

“With our roots firmly planted in the bourbon nerd community from day one,” noted Black, “the goal of Circle City Whiskey Company is always to produce whiskeys that bourbon nerds and explorers will love. Whether it be single barrels or unique blends, we produce whiskeys we love to drink because, ultimately, we are bourbon nerds first.”

Following the initial success of a 50/50 Club blend from two well-known American whiskey distilleries, Circle City is bringing this program to key retail markets in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois for clubs and retailers wanting their own special pick. This expansion follows a significant growth curve the company has experienced of over 100 percent YTD 2025 vs 2026.

Other key markers of Circle City’s success include winning multiple ASCOT Double Platinum and Platinum medals, as well as being named Best in Category: American at ASCOT for its 11+ year rye whiskey. Circle City also recently opened its own lounge and gift shop at its location in Indianapolis, Indiana.

For additional details on the Circle City Whiskey Co. 50/50 Club program, please reach out through the contact page on the Circle City website.

About Circle City Whiskey Co. 

Circle City Whiskey Co., based in Indianapolis, Indiana, evolved from a very popular bourbon club with 65 barrel picks over five years into a preeminent American independent bottler. Led by Drew Black, a highly regarded expert in whiskey barrel sourcing, Circle City seeks to select the best whiskey they can find from distilleries across the United States. Once sourced, the intersection of collective palate, quality finishing, and master blending is put forward to leave the brand’s unique stamp on every product they release.