Whisky Stories Podcast

Is there anything in whisky that Brendan McCarron hasn't done? Brendan talks us through his career from a Diageo graduate to running the whole of Diageo's Islay Group. Creating Ardbeg An Oa, learning from Dr Bill Lumsden, distilling for Deanston, Tobermoray and Bunnahabhain, and then starting how own business. His career has been an incredible journey and he's got some great stories fr...

We wanted to talk through some controversial whisky opinions of our own and from our listeners. It was a chance for the 4 of us to catch-up, have some drams and talk through some whisky opinions that might split the room. I don't know if I should put a trigger warning on this episode, but some of the topics definitely caused some debate. Pour a dram, sit back and give it a listen and tell us y...

This episode blew my mind when we recorded it. To say Ian Palmer has had quite a career is an understatement. Starting out as an apprentice Fitters Mate at Invergordon to Operations Director of the whole group, then building Starlaw, buying Glen Moray, and then eventually starting out on his own with InchDairnie Distillery. There's so much to unpack in this episode. Just pour a dram, sit back...

150 episodes in 150 weeks! We were back in Diggers for a catch up, drams and some whisky chat. Ross handed in a last minute sick note, so we were joined by Jake Adcook for the evening. What have been the biggest lessons we've learnt from the podcast? But the BIG news is that Whisky Stories Whisky Festival tickets are ON SALE NOW! Pour a dram, run yourself a bath, and enjoy episode 150!

A week later, we have part 2 of this epic chat with Tomatin Distillery Manager Jamie Muir and Global Marketing Manager Danny Whelan. In the last episode we heard the stories behind the guys and how they got into whisky. Now it was all about Tomatin and what goes into making the whisky. I had no idea just how long some of the people who have worked at the distillery have been there. It's incred...

This is the first ever Whisky Stories Double Header Part 1. When the Distillery Manager drives down from Tomatin to chat, we had to make sure we got all we could get. Jamie Muir is the Distillery Manager at Tomatin, he grew up on Jura and has worked for Jura Distillery 3 times, Fettercairn, Kichoman and BrewDog. Danny Whelan is Global Marketing Manager for Tomatin and started out working in bars m...

This one got loose! We packed out Uno Mas in Edinburgh for this Whisky Stories LIVE event and what a night it was. John Stirling was back on the pod and we also had Christian Perez from the distillery down and he brought a very special cask sample with him that John hadn't event tried. We went through the lineup, chatted about the whisky and challenged John on some of the conversation that&#39...

It was great having Stephen Woodcock back on the pod. And this time he came bearing gifts! Not to be outdone by the team at Bunnahabhain, he made sure we stand out now with the bright yellow iconic Cutty Sark jackets, bags, mugs, notebooks and pens! He also brought drams with him too and plenty of great chat about his career, some really funny stories, and plenty of distilling and blending insight...

It was time for a monthly catch-up in Diggers with the lads. We were down in the cellar with plenty of drams and loads to talk about. We caught up on our distillery trip to Arbikie, some big drams on the lineup, AND if we can pull off organising our very own Whisky Stories Festival. Loads of laughs, questionable chat, and good drams on this one.

Arbikie Distillery are about to launch their first ever Single Malt release. And it's taken them 10 long years to wait for this moment. And what better way to spread the good word about it than to come on the Whisky Stories Podcast and tell us all about it. John Stirling is one of the family members involved in the business. He is 'Chief Taster' and has been part of the journey since a...

It's always good to catch up with Mark Thomson. In this episode, we dived into brand advocacy and asked if the Scotch Whisky Industry are moving away from it and whether that's a good thing or not. Mark is an award winning Brand Ambassador and has worked with massive global brands as well as smaller independent ones. He's also working with brands on a contract basis to help with advoca...

This is a belter of an episode. Another Master Blender on the podcast and Julieann Fernandez gave us an amazing insight working for CVH. As well as being responsible for signing off on all the single malt and blended releases from the distilleries, she also travels the world representing the brands and talking to people about Bunnahabhain, Deanston, Tobermoray and Ledaig. We were also joined by Lu...

We were back in Diggers for a catchup and debrief from our Islay trip. This one got a bit messier than intended, but it was good to be back in the cellar chatting drams and telling Ross about how good the Islay trip was. We went through our own personal highlights from Islay, rated the distilleries on whisky, experience and merch. We answered listener questions and tucked into some fantastic drams...

Part 2 of our Islay extravaganza took us to Bunnahabhain Distillery and we got a chance to sit down and have some drams with the legendary David Brodie. David has been a tour guide at Bunnahabhain Distillery for 11 years and his Warehouse 9 Tastings have become famous. David talked us through his own journey and how he found himself moving to Islay and falling in love with the island and the whisk...

This is part of our FULL Islay Experience! We headed over to Islay and our first stop was Kilchoman Distillery. After a lovely tour and plenty of drams, we sat down with James Wills who is the Marketing and Sales Man as well as being son of the Founder Anthony Wills. James talked us through the whole history of Kilchoman Distillery, what it was like growing up around the distillery, accidentally s...

Brian Kinsman is the Master Blender for William Grant & Sons. That means he is responsible for overseeing some of the biggest whisky brands in the world. Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Grants, Monkey Shoulder, and now The Famous Grouse. He's only the 6th Glenfiddich Malt Master in nearly 140 years. He's worked within the William Grant & Sons Business for over 25 years, and his name is...

Mike McGinty is the Brand Home Manager for John Dewars & Sons. That means a big part of his job is to take people to the distilleries owned by Dewars and tell them the amazing stories about them. Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigallachie, Macduff, and Royal Brackla all fall under his remit. And in this episode he told us the stories behind them all. Why is Dewars so popular in America? Mike explained...

We've all seen the labels on bottles and seen brands promoting that they are finalists or winners of whisky awards. But what does that actually mean? And what goes into winning a whisky award? John Boyle is the man who's job it is to start putting the Scottish Whisky Awards together each year. Getting brands to submit entries, bringing in sponsors, and putting on a MASSIVE tasting session...

What is it that makes Tamnavulin so popular? To celebrate 60 years of the distillery, we held a birthday party for Tamnavulin and got to try some incredible whisky. Whisky Maker Kirsty Hodge and Distillery Manager Trevor Milne came down to Diggers Leith for the party and brought along some whisky goodies. It's not every day you get to try 50. year old whisky, so the final dram of the night was...

What does working in an Edinburgh City Centre whisky shop teach you about whisky? David Agnew is the Manager of The Whisky Shop on Multrees Walk in Edinburgh City Centre. He's also the man who first started teaching Ross Barr about whisky. This turned into one of my favourite nights recording. David has his own unique way when it comes to talking about whisky. He's seen the trends of new d...

I love listening to Alex Thomson talking about history, whisky, and Scottish Hospitality. And there's plenty of that on this episode. Since the last time Alex was on the podcast he's since left his role at Glenturret and has set up his own business with a focus on delivering authentic Scottish experiences with a focus on the Perthshire area. Alex has plenty of amazing whisky stories and is...

This is the second time we've interviewed Gregor Hannah from Lady of the Glen Independent Bottlers. And if there's one thing I know about him, he just says it as it is. This episode is one of the best insights I've ever had on Independent Bottling. How he started the business, growing the business to the point of bringing in a Brand Ambassador Paul McKendrick, and searching for markets...

It was just the boys in for some drams and a catch up for this week. We haven't had an episode with just the 4 of us this year! So it was good to get us all in the back room at Diggers, get some drams and answer some listener questions. There's a lot to unpack in this, there's questions ranging from our dream distillery visit to who would win in a whisky triathlon. Turns out Chuck'...

This is the second time we've had Finn Thomson on the podcast. The first time was for our second Indy Bottler Spotlight. But we wanted to sit down with Finn and dive into his fascinating whisky family history which dates all the way back to 1772. Illicit stills, blending, buying casks, and carrying on the family business. We hear all about how Finn decided to set up his very own whisky busines...

It was a big night at Mother Superior for our Whisky Stories LIVE event with Adelphi and Ardnamurchan. After our trip to the distillery, it was great to sit down with a group on a Friday night and go through a great lineup which included our very own hand picked cask sample we drew on our trip to the distillery. We had Calum Rafferty and Connie MacDonald in representing Adelphi and Ardnamurchan an...