The Spirit Guides

Your ever-punctual Spirit Guides are back with a special all-together-in-one-place mega episode.  But will we delight in our selected special barrel of bourbon and much as we delight in each others company?  Come pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass, and join us to find out.

Your ever-dedicated Spirit Guides are at it again! This time we return south of the border to sample some tequila that - get this! - comes in a cool bottle. Can we judge this book by this cover? Join us for a sip and a listen to find out.

We're back!  With a… uh oh… flavored gin?  These usually don't go down smooth with all of your open-minded Spirit Guides. But maybe… just maybe…

You ever-discriminating Spirit Guides are delving once more into the world of Irish whiskey.  This time to sample a tempting single pot still offering.  Will it taste like a familiar Irish blend, or will we find something a little more wild and unique?  Pull up a chair and join us for a wee bit o' the craiture.

Your wayward Spirit Guides are scouring the aisles of a very well-stocked distillery gift shop to bring you something special this episode.  It's a special/special wheated bourbon where more care might have been put in to which oak staves finished it than the amount of wax the top was dipped into.  And which spirit guide bought the wrong bottle?  You'll have to join us for a sip and listen to find out. Apologies for the quality of Max's audio for this episode.  He makes bad choices.

Your tried and true Spirit Guides are back on task drinking and reviewing single bottles of what we certainly hope to be "the good stuff."  In this case, we're sampling Hampden Estate Pure Single Jamaican Rum in the hopes that we've found a new Caribbean sipper.  Will this bottle bring the funk or not?  Come join us for a listen to find out...

Your ever-festive Spirit Guides are visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past as we dive into George Washington's (supposed - but extremely boozy nonetheless) Mt. Vernon Egg Nog recipe.  And then we make a couple of extra nogs for good measure.  Which is the best nog?  The one nog to rule them all?  Come on in during this holiday season and join us for a sip and a listen.

This is it, faithful listeners.  Your dependable and determined Spirit Guides have followed the rigorous and unforgiving championship bracket to the final match. Which of these exotic-ish gins will be determined the best of the best?  Honestly, we recorded the entire tournament in a single evening and we're a little hazy on what happened in the final round.  So pull up a seat, pour yourself 3 shots and mix yourself 3 cocktails, and we can all find out together...

Your thrill-seeking Spirit Guides won't stop until we've taken it to the limit. This is the final qualifying round of the greatest spirits competition in podcast history.  Which gin will make it to compete in the final 3-way battle royale?  Will it be Bloom Jasmine & Rose Gin (Limited Edition!) or Empress 1908 Gin?  Well get of the edge of your seat, pour yourself a few glasses, and listen along to find out!

Your ever-diligent Spirit Guides won't stop until the best gin (from our perfectly random selection of contestants) is crowned the best of the best.  Round two pits against one another a couple of nations famous for their gin, Spain and Ireland.  Here's a little taste of what's to come: one of them is really quite good.  But which one?! The only way to find out is to come join us for a sip or two and a listen...

Your hyper-competitive Spirit Guides are at it again.  This episode begins our four-episode-long tournament pitting six craft gins against one another in a winner-take all battle royale.  We start with a California gin distilled by the famed director of the 1996 classic Jack and named after an early contributor to the eventual development of computer programming for some reason, and a variation on a now-classic Scottish gin that they threw a bunch of bittering agents into for some other reason.  Whose gin will rin suprin?!  Join us for a sip and a listen to find out.

Your brave and daring Spirit Guides once more race to the precipice of... I don't know... something about a mountain of liquor?  Anyway, we're drinking two whiskies and a rum from Colorado.  Some come and join us for a taste a listen.  Colorado pride!

Welsh gin.  That checks out.  Your fancy free Spirit Guides have been flirting with a few examples of non-England-based UK gin for a little while now and are still seeking that big surprise.  Is this the one that will delight us all?  Come have a listen and a sip to find out with us.

Have your ever-mischievous Spirit Guides lost their minds?  No friends, you're eyes are not playing tricks on you: we are truly tasting some “welsh rum.”  Or maybe that doesn't surprise you given the exploding state of craft distilling around the world.  But all of this is beside the point.  Here's what really matters: is it any good?  Only one way to find out...

Three great tastes that taste great together?  You know, that classic Scottish trio of flavors: rhubarb, ginger, and juniper. Have your ever-steady Spirit Guides gone too far?  Is even such a thing possible in the never-subtly-flavored world of gin?  Join us for a listen and find out for sure...

After a much-appreciated hiatus (and a much-resented dry-spell) your resurrected Spirit Guides are back and we're excited to enjoy a much needed dram.  Was this special edition bottling worth the wait?  Come sit back down with us for a sip and listen to find out!

Your diversity-focused Spirit Guides are keeping the streak alive to hold off on whiskey for a while. It some rum this time around. Do we have some boring frat party lighter fuel, or some of that hard sought after dank tiki bar funk? Only way to find out is to come join us for a taste and a listen...

Your constantly collaborative Spirit Guides have joined forces once more to analyze a Californian gin.  Does this live up to the high standards of...uh...California gin?  Come for a listen and a sip and find out!

Your ever-alert Spirit Guides have come a cross a month-old article that demands our immediate attention!  Has a beloved mainstay of European cafes and American brunch spots been removed from its throne?  Or is this just click-bait masquerading as weaponized hipsterism?  Come and listen to the only truly qualified experts on the subject and find out for sure! 

Your unfailing Spirit Guides are here to bring you a meticulously crafted finale that will totally not disappoint you. We're talking about scotch, of course. Come have a taste and a listen to hear how we stuck the landing. 

Your appararently-psychic Spirit Guides have somehow managed to have the second round of the semi-finals match thematically with the final episode of the series! Destiny, perhaps? Or maybe the fix is in. Come join us to find out... Oh, and this is a liquor podcast.

Your ever-persevering Spirit Guides have made it to the semi-finals! Two beloved returning whiskies are going slug it out on, like, a crumbling burning spiral staircase? Sure, that sounds exciting. Let's say it's that. Come join us for a listen and a drink...

Can your fearless Spirit Guides tame these two ferocious beasts? If only we had hyper-accurate curving giant crossbows, then we might stand a chance! Come join us for a listen and a dram and find out who wins...

Will your enternally patient Spirit Guides give The Long Night a long episode? Or will we be all-business and just drink some scotch? You probably know the answer. But you better come have a listen to know for sure. 

Just before everything reaches the climax, your normally frenetic Spirit Guides take a moment to pause to reunite, reaffirm old alliances, maybe give each other swords, mope on the battlements, and...uh...drink some questionably-themed licensed scotch whisky. Come over by the fireplace and raise your glass with us!

In our quest for new and exciting spirits, your unwavering Spirit Guides are off to the land of Westeros to see which noble house makes the best whisky.  To start off this season-spanning spar, we pit the Trout against the Rose.  Come join us...

Your ever-eclectic Spirit Guides are dipping once more into the obscurely exotic world of artisanal rhum. Have we found a secret treasure trove of hand-crafted paradise or just another glass of fermented sugar water that kind of tastes like black olives? Come have a listen and find out...

Join your ever-wandering Spirit Guides as we return once more to to Caledonian shores in search of hidden treasure. Strap on your sporran and join us for a dram...

Your ever-festive Spirit Guides are bringing you a holiday extravaganza unlike anything you've ever experienced! We drank a tropical-themed nog-like concoction and watched a modern holiday classic movie. Can you guess which of these was the most sickeningly sweet? Come join us to find out...

We did it. That's right: you're ever-decisive Spirit Guides have DEFINITEVLY determined the greatest gin/tonic/lime-based cocktail recipe of ALL TIME. It took us a little longer than usual to get this pod out, but the pay-off is clearly worth it. You're welcome, world. 

A taste of the Island(s)! Wait a minute...are we drinking Irish whiskey or are we drinking rum? (It's whiskey, we know.) Is this just another tawdry barrel-finishing gimmick from a major distiller or have they come up with something special? Come and join your terminally cynical Spirit Guides for a taste and find out.

It's time for Dirty Podcasting 2: Havana Nights! But in Puerto Rico. And also in Havana. Is this sexy/steamy or confusing/paradoxical? Only one way to find out. Come and have a listen!

We're in a month that ends with a "y" so we must be drinking Irish! But your eternally-consistant Spirit Guides still find a way to make this seemingly frequent occurance pretty darn special. Come and join us for a taste and a listen. 

Your insatiable Spirit Guides have found something... unnatural.  What is this Franken-booze that seeks to combine wine and liquor into some unholy union?  When we asked ourselves if we could do it, we didn't bother to ask if we should. Has science finally made a hybrid that will replace its now-inferior components?!  Or is it just a preposterous novelty?  Come join us to find out!

As your ever-wandering Spirit Guides have long searched the world over to bring home the most fabled libations, it's a rare thing for them to find something entirely new these days. But they've done it. By God, they've done it. So gather round to hear the tale...

Your world-traveling Spirit Guides return once more with another beverage from the Old Sod.  But not with what you might expect. Have we uncovered a delicious treat or have finally managed to expand our horizons too far?  Come join us for a listen and drink...

Your ever-hungry Spirit Guides are sad to learn that even though this bottle clearly mentions tacos, this whiskey CONTAINS NO TACOS.  So we take it upon ourselves to answer the question: is whiskey made without tacos any good?  The answer may surprise you.  Come join us for a taste...

Your brave and true Spirit Guides return once more to have a taste pf the Highlands.  Will we be rewarded with a unique experience or are we fated to a mundane and run-of-the-mill dram?  We're hedging our bets by tasting two! Come have a listen.

We've always known that the siren song of our neighbors to the south would lure your ever-loyal Spirit Guides back.  Has the nectar of the agave lulled us into its sweet embrace again like the lotus of old?  Can we come up with another odyssian metaphor before our literary depths run empty like the pillaged treasure rooms of Troy? Clearly not, it seems. Still, we drink some very interesting tequila so come join us for a taste and a listen. 

Ciao from your well-traveled Spirit Guides.  We went to a medieval apothecary hoping to see what kind of rot-gut snake oil we could scrounge up.  Turns out all we found was a world-class liquor specialist beloved my European Royalty.  Oh well.  Come join us for a taste...

Your ever-gracious and hospitable Spirit Guides dive into the world of clear, unflavored liquors that thankfully aren't marketed as "moonshine." What has brought upon this unexpected adventure into unexplored territory, you ask? Why, it's because we're joined by our very first special guest! Does James have what it takes to sit at the table with the big kids?! Come find out!

For our historic 50th podcast, your ever-reliable Spirit Guides have put together a special treat... for ourselves!  But at least you get to listen to it.  Come join us and we sample not one, not two, but THREE different varieties of one of our favorite bottlers.  MORE FRENCH SCOTCH!!!

It's time for your daring Spirit Guides to venture into the unknown with our first tasting of the rare and mysterious beverage known as tequila.  Wait...that can't be right, can it? It took us 49 episodes to drink some tequila?  Better late than never, I suppose. Come join us for a taste...

Join your heroic Spirit Guides as we try to figure out why the faces of every single modern rum-luminary are plastered on this bottle of 138 proof (!!!!) rum.  Come have a listen...

Your faithful guides to the spirit world reach deep back into the cabinet to grab another whiskey that listeners residing anywhere other than the old sod will have a hard time finding.  Is it good?  You'll probably just have to take our word for it.  You can trust us.

Your ever-humble and long-suffering Spirit Guides venture once more into the smokey and challenging waters of the Scottish islands for a dram of that most divisive whisky.  Will we stand firm in solidarity or will the this peated beast turn Guide against Guide? Come join us for a listen and find out...

Your dauntless Spirit Guides stole a cigarette boat and under cover of night raced south from the Florida Keys to... No, wait.  You don't have to do that anymore to get some Cuban rum.  So we just bought some.  Come join us for a taste of this once forbidden treat...

We done did it.  Pappy Holidays to each and every one of us!  From your ever-festive Spirit Guides.

The Spirit Guides have returned to native soil for a taste of something special.  We've rummaged around the cellar to dig out a treat.  Come join us for a taste...