Sports and Spirits

A weekly podcast that takes you into the biggest sports events of the week and what you should be drinking with them. Product reviews and ratings. Matt East and Hank Allen have a combined 30 years experience in broadcast television. We're using that experience to bring you the latest news and topics in the world of sports and to highlight some of the great spirits in the United States and abroad. It's a little sports, spirits, and travel all in one place! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to listen.

Kilinga Bacanora from Tales of the Cocktail 08/07/2024

Kilinga Bacanora from Tales of the Cocktail Exciting show this week as we kick off our Tales of the Cocktail coverage for 2024. We start by visiting with Master Distiller and Founder of Kilinga Bacanora Rodrigo Bojorquez. Bacanora is a spirit made from agave but is different from Tequila. This interview really breaks down the genre and the characteristics of Bacanora. Plus we get the backstory of Kilinga and taste a couple of the expressions. For more information on Kilinga you can visit their website at As always thanks for listening! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/32491262

Summer sports and Reyka Vodka 06/07/2024

Summer sports and Reyka Vodka We back! Sort of. Hank is flying solo this week with Matt still on the mend from his recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. Details on that next week. In the meantime, it's early June. Plenty to talk about in the sports world with college baseball, MLB, and the NBA Finals underway. For our spirits content this week we check in with Jeff Naples of Reyka Vodka. We caught up with him last summer at Tales of the Cocktail. This was a fun interview, and Jeff is the perfect blend of sports and spirits. We are back with a full show next week. As always thanks for listening, and you can check out more on Reyka Vodka and Tales of the Cocktail at the following links. Jeffrey Naples: Reyka Vodka: Tales of the Cocktail: /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/31641747

David Allardice with Glenfiddich 08/24/2023

David Allardice with Glenfiddich College football is back! We take a look at the opening weekend of games and discuss the early polls. The usual suspects are in the top 5 but will those teams be there in the end? And what did the polls get wrong. Matt and Hank take an early look at the season. Then at 24:00 we sit down with David Allardice at Tales of the Cocktail. Really fun chat with him about Glenfiddich and the latest they have going on. We could have talked for a while he is so much fun so we will be trying to catch up with him down the road. As always thanks for taking the time to listen, and if you're looking for a great scotch check out Glenfiddich! We always highly recommend their expressions. You can find out more at /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27841161

Lynn House and Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week 08/17/2023

Lynn House and Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week Back with a big show this week! Matt and Hank get caught up on the latest in Major League Baseball and their thoughts on the standings. Are the Braves the team to beat? Plus college football is right around the corner. Our thoughts on the state of the game with conference realignment in full swing. After that we are honored to be joined on the show by Lynn House with Heaven Hill brands and Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week. Catch that at 30:00. We talk about Old Fashioned Week and their partnership with the Southern Smoke Foundation. It's a great event that helps to raise money in support of those in the hospitality industry. Hank talks with Lynn at Tales of the Cocktail and we get in to all kinds of different topics. It's a great time! As always thanks for listening. For more info on Southern Smoke: To find out more about Old Fashioned Week: Follow Lynn on Instagram at: /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27781185

John Cubelic with Dread River Distillery 08/04/2023

John Cubelic with Dread River Distillery Super fun show this week and something that epitomizes the meaning of Sports and Spirits. We sit down with John Cubelic, co-founder of Dread River Distillery in Birmingham, AL. This is a great conversation about how he got to the point of wanting to start a distillery and what that process was like. For the first time ever Dread River Distilling will be partnering with Big Machine Music City Grand Prix IndyCar August 4 - 6, 2023. This will be their introduction into the Tennessee market. We talk with John about their partnership with Indy in Alabama the last few years and why this makes sense to break into the Tennessee market. Really a fun conversation. Check it out and as always thanks for listening! Find more about Dread River at /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27654777

Virginia Distillery at Tales of the Cocktail 07/28/2023

Virginia Distillery at Tales of the Cocktail Big show this week! Settle in for a great show 'live' from Tales of the Cocktail. Hank and Nathan site down with Lead Blender Amanda Beckwith and Head of Advocacy Jenny Wren to learn all about Virginia Distillery and their Courage and Conviction Whisky. We recorded it in person during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. This show is packed with information about the distillery, their single malts, and this history of the people working their. Plus we go through a tasting of each expression to talk about what you will find in the bottle. You can learn more at Find Amanda on Instagram at and on LinkedIn at Jenny is available on Instagram at /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27595674

1 on 1 with Neal Bodenheimer 07/21/2023

1 on 1 with Neal Bodenheimer A great show this week as we are joined by Neal Bodenheimer. Tales of the Cocktail is right around the corner so we get his take on what this festival means for the service industry and why New Orleans is the perfect place for it. Plus we learn about his book "Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em" along with some of his other projects. It's a quick but insightful interview to get you ready for Tales! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27533760

Back at it in mid June with Casa M Spices 06/15/2023

Back at it in mid June with Casa M Spices We're back! As we head towards Father's Day weekend we are giving you a great gift idea for the grill dad in your life. We talk with Casa M Spices to learn about their line of low sodium seasonings and rubs. These are all really good, and such a great option for anybody looking to avoid the normal high sodium options. Check that out at 24:30. Before that we give our thoughts on the recent NBA championship by the Denver Nuggets, and talk some MLB. Thanks for joining us! You can find more about Casa M on their website: /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/27163650

Glen Moray and Baseball Playoffs 10/14/2022

Glen Moray and Baseball Playoffs Another huge show this week! We talk with Brendan Raulerson of Glen Moray. He takes us through some samples and lets us know what makes Glen Moray unique. We taste four different expressions, all unique and really good. Plus some sports talk on baseball playoffs and a big weekend in college football. Thanks for listening! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24690042

All About Shochu 10/05/2022

All About Shochu Back this week with a fantastic interview! We really hope you stick around for all of this one. Hank sits down with Shochu expert and founder of Honkaku Spirits Christopher Pellegrini at 13:30. He has a fanstastic story to tell about how he got into Shochu and moved to Japan. If you're not familiar with this spirit it is a really interesting genre. Shochu is the national spirit of Japan and Christopher will break down what makes it so unique. Plus Hank samples 3 different Shochus with Christopher and a Japanese whiskey as well. And the story behind the whiskey is also amazing! We talk a little baseball early but most of the show is built around Shochu. Hope you enjoy it! You can learn more at /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24598593

NFL Preview and Craft Standard 09/08/2022

NFL Preview and Craft Standard We have another great show for you this week! Stay tuned for a tremendous interview with William and Don Ray of Craft Standard coming up at 26 minutes. This is a draft cocktail company. They are reinventing the way cocktails are served at large and small venues. Really interesting stuff. Before and after that we are giving you our NFL picks ahead of opening weekend. We talk about who we think is the favorite in each division and conference and some sleepers. As always thanks for listening! Check out more about Craft Standard on their website: /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24313017

College Football Preview and SouthNorte cocktails 09/01/2022

College Football Preview and SouthNorte cocktails The big weekend is finally here. College football is back in a big way with a full slate of games and we are fired up about it. Big show this week that we start with a discussion of the current state of the game with the transfer portal and NIL deals. Then we get to our featured guest of the week at 24:00. Ryan Brooks of SouthNorte beverage company joins us to talk about their line of ready to drink cocktails. These are really good and perfect for a beach weekend or tailgating. We had a great time with him. After that strap it in for a full power 5 conference preview as we make our picks and sleepers in each league, plus our college football playoff predictions. Thanks for listening! Check out more on SouthNorte here: /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24241242

Five Trail Whiskey and college football 08/26/2022

Five Trail Whiskey and college football The wait is over! We finally have college football back this weekend. We will get in to our full season preview next week, but we do discuss some of the opening games, some over/under predictions, and some general takeaways of the upcoming season. Then a great interview at 30:30 with Five Trail Whiskey. We talk with Alberto Farias, General Manager of Molson Coors Beverage Company along with their Marketing Manager Kim Fox. Really good stuff with them. This is an American blended whiskey that really delivers a smooth finish with some sweetness early and a little spice late. Hank gives it a 9.5/10 rating. Then we wrap it up with Matt's pop-culture segment talking about the opening episode of House of the Dragon and that series. Thanks for listening! You can check out more about Five Trail Whiskey at their website /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24176355

MLB standings, college football, and Casa Lumbre Spirits from Tales of the Cocktail! 08/18/2022

MLB standings, college football, and Casa Lumbre Spirits from Tales of the Cocktail! Big show this week! We start off with our thoughts on the MLB standings as things sit right now. It's really a 3 team race in the National League and 2 in the American League to us right now but see if you agree. Then a huge interview at 21:30 with Ivan Saldana, one of the co-founders of Casa Lumbre Spirits. This stuff is awesome. All locally sourced products from Mexico and California. Amazing flavors and a variety of spirits including corn whiskey and gins along with others. This was a great time at Tales of the Cocktail talking with Ivan. After that we get into some college football news to wrap it up. We will talk about the chance of expanding playoffs, breaking off from the NCAA, and the state of the sport in general. For more on Casa Lumbre check out their site at Thanks for listening! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24096735

We're back! And we talk with De Nada tequila 08/11/2022

We're back! And we talk with De Nada tequila It's been quite a layoff and quite a two year stretch for everyone. We missed the show and bringing you stories from the spirits world and talking sports so we are finally back. Season 7 kicks off with Matt and Hank getting back into the swing of things with a brief discussion of the state of college football. We'll talk more on that in the coming weeks. But we start back up with content from the recently completed Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. We got to sit down with the creators of De Nada Tequila and learn what make their product so special. Catch that interview at 23:30. After that we wrap it up with some streaming tv analysis and pop culture from Matt. As always check out our website at for the latest shows. You can find more about De Nada tequila at Thanks for listening! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/24028221

Super Bowl betting analysis and cocktail recipes 02/04/2021

Super Bowl betting analysis and cocktail recipes We are back with our Super Bowl preview edition! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/17822066

New Orleans Bourbon Festival 03/06/2020

New Orleans Bourbon Festival We are just a week away from the New Orleans Bourbon Festival! Join us as we talk with founder Tracy Napolitano on how much it has grown and what you can expect this year. It's amazing in year number 4 where this has gone. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/13442600

MLB changes and Glenfiddich from Tales of the Cocktail 02/13/2020

MLB changes and Glenfiddich from Tales of the Cocktail Big show this week as we get ready for the start of NASCAR with the upcoming Daytona 500. Plus some new rules for baseball this year. We discuss the headliner about pitchers. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/13141817

Neil Strachan of The Balvenie 02/06/2020

Neil Strachan of The Balvenie Great interview this week! One of our favorite products out there. We sit down with Neil Strachan of The Balvenie. This is from Tales of the Cocktail a few months back but some great info on some new whisky they have out. A little different from what you're used too. That comes after a brief Super Bowl Recap. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/13046366

Super Bowl LIV special 01/30/2020

Super Bowl LIV special It's Super Bowl weekend! We are back with our latest show to get you set for the game and surrounding fun. We'll give you our thoughts on the game and make our picks. Then bring in Raphael Esparza at 28:00 for all the betting insights you need. Then at 43:00 we talk with Chef Isaac Toups and the NFL's Party with a Purpose. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/12953153

Fernet Branca and college football championship weekend 12/05/2019

Fernet Branca and college football championship weekend Back with a big show this week. Great interview from Tales of the Cocktail with Edoardo Branca of Fernet Branca. Then our analysis of college football conference championship weekend and playoff scenarios. Plus NFL thoughts, random Star Wars discussion, and the usual shenanigans. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/12295673

Knappogue Castle and football 11/21/2019

Knappogue Castle and football We back! After a hiatus due to various life circumstances Hank and Matt are back with a new show. After a quick re-introduction we go right to our feature spirit of the week, Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/12125522

Don Q Rum tasting part 2 09/26/2019

Don Q Rum tasting part 2 Big show this week as we finish up our tasting and discussion with Don Q Rum Global Ambassador Alexx Mouzouris. Such a great time with him at Tales of the Cocktail. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/11408504

Don Q Rum Tasting 09/19/2019

Don Q Rum Tasting We're back! After a brief hiatus thanks to Matt's many travels the show is back this week. We continue our Tales of the Cocktail content with some great stuff from Don Q Rum. Global Ambassador Alexx Mouzouris tells us all about the brand and walks us through the many different offerings. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/11318762

Blackened Whiskey and college football 08/29/2019

Blackened Whiskey and college football Big show this week! What happens when you combine Metallica music, whiskey, and one of the best master distillers out there? Blackened Whiskey. It's really good, and the story of how it's made is even better. We talk with Rob Dietrich about the project and what makes it special. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/11047772

Monkey Shoulder Whisky 08/08/2019

Monkey Shoulder Whisky Nathan joins Hank this week as Matt continues his west coast road trip. We have a great interview off the top of the show just a couple minutes in. Vance Henderson of Monkey Shoulder Whisky joins us to talk about the product and his background becoming a brand ambassador. That's from Tales of the Cocktail. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/10822235

Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey 08/01/2019

Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey We have a great interview for you this week! Woodford Reserve's Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall joins us to talk about their new release, Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey. This stuff tastes fantastic and we were one of the firsts to try it at Tales of the Cocktail. Get all the details about it plus hear her story of getting to where she is today. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/10741079

All About Pisco! 07/25/2019

All About Pisco! Matt and Hank are back after a bit of a summer layoff. We start our Tales of the Cocktail coverage this year talking pisco (info below). Dänny Ronen stops by for a tasting and a ton of information. After that we discuss some MLB standings and give our thoughts on the start of NFL training camp. Don't forget, use promo code NOLA at Shaker and Spoon for a $10 discount!!! /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/10655696

Tripp Stimson of Barrell Bourbon 06/26/2019

Tripp Stimson of Barrell Bourbon Big show this week as we sit down with Tripp Stimson, Director of Distillery Operations, of Barrell Bourbon. Great to talk with him about why Barrell is so popular. We get his insight into the bourbon world and whether they plan to distill their own products in the future. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/10301315

Halo Sport hydration drink 05/31/2019

Halo Sport hydration drink Exciting time of year in the sports world and this week we bring you a new product in the world of sports hydration. We speak with Anshuman Vohra, Founder of Halo Sport. /episode/index/show/sportsandspirits/id/9999128

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