Episode 232 - Vanishing Spirits: The Art of Whisky with Ernie Button

In this stimulating conversation with photographer and whisky enthusiast Ernie Button, creator of The Art of Whisky, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Ernie married his way into a love for Scotch, and how that fondness turned to wonder and curiosity one night when he was about to put his whisky glasses into the dishwasher.
• The collaborative approach that Ernie took to explore this subject, pulling in fluid dynamics physicists at Ivy League Universities, and even resulting in a published paper in an academic journal.
• What it takes to coax the “fingerprint” out of each spirit he photographs, and why these images appear molecular, or planetary, or nebular in shape and structure.
• By way of illustration, we look at a few images from The Art of Whisky, which help to showcase the ways in which whisky scatters and reflects light.
• We also dig into some of the chemical forces responsible for these phenomena, in Ernie’s experience, including the influence of charred oak barrels, cask finishes, and peat.
• Along the way, we discuss exciting developments in the rice whisky world, an encounter with barrel-aged Botanist Gin, why grape-based spirits are just the ABSOLUTE WORST for photography, and much, much more.

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