From Empire Rye to Whiskeyland: The Balas Brothers' Journey in Storytelling and Whiskey

What is Whiskeyland? More importantly, what is your Whiskeyland? Is it visiting an up-and-coming blending house like Pursuit Spirits? Reviving a long-lost rye species (Rosen rye) with Mammoth? Representing the other Indiana distilleries with Hard Truth? Or just sipping with friends and family, whether your collection is 5 bottles or 500.

Ryan and Alec Balas - who also made an incredible film on Empire Rye called Fire, Water, & Grain - join me to discuss the making of this new series. Whiskeyland Batch 1 is now out in its entirety, available on YouTube and featuring many distilleries, producers, and chefs whose stories are whiskey and whose whiskies are stories.

Drawing inspiration from Anthony Bourdain to look at life through the lens of food and drink, Whiskeyland is a new look at the stories of people in the whiskey and how the strands of family and friends intertwine when a passion is discovered. Reviewing their journey from acting and editing to independent filmmaking (and, yes, content, though Ryan hates that word), we go through what drives the Balas Brothers to create and tell stories, the process of choosing which stories to feature and in which order, and why positive counter-programming can be an antidote to the ills and negativity we see every day.

Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, New York - anywhere can be your Whiskeyland.

Thanks everyone for listening, and thank you to Ryan and Alec for entering the Whiskey Ring!

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, BAXUS

Baxus is the world's leading collectible spirits marketplace, with user-friendly options for buyers, sellers, and collectors looking to vault their collections. Use my link below to visit the BAXUS.CO website and sign up!

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Thanks to our Lead Sponsor, Black Button Distillery

• Black Button Distilling Website
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The Balas Brothers

• The Balas Brothers Website
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• Whiskeyland TV