Whisky Stories Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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 and they brought some great drams along with them.

Another great night with loads of laughs and great whisky.

This is the big one.

Dr. Emma Walker is the Master Blender for Johnnie Walker. That's got to be the biggest job in whisky. She is responsible for blending and signing off on all Johnnie Walker products and she talked us through the whole process.

Getting to sit down and have some drams with Emma has been one of the best experiences I've had since starting the podcast. Hearing her explain the magnitude of the job that she has, managing 11 million casks of whisky, maintaining the quality and consistency of a product that's sold all over the world, and creating exciting new releases for new individual markets. This podcast was a proper insight into one of the biggest drinks brands in the world.

This week we were back in the Diggers Cellar joined by Shona Gillespie aka Shona Sips from Loch Lomond Group.

We chatted about Glenscotia, re-branding, Loch Lomond's 11 different spirit types and what's going on in the Scotch Whisky Industry right now.

Shona was kind enough to bring drams and samples along with her and we really enjoyed the new Glenscotia 12 release.

Blair Sterrick has worked in selling booze and whisky for most of his professional life.

Having worked for the likes of Diagio and Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, he now works for the Isle of Harris Distillery selling their new whisky The Hearach and their extremely popular and iconic gin.

In this episode we talk about the success of the distillery which has created a huge amount of local employment on the island and the interesting batch system used by the distillery for the whisky releases.

Blair was also kind enough to bring in a couple of generous samples and glasses for us to try the different batches and releases.

Enjoy

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Mark Davidson has spent over 20 years working in whisky.

When teaching maths and engineering didn't cut it, he began working behind the bar to help out at the original Scotch Malt Whisky Society bar in Leith.

From there he ended up spending the next 20+ years working in retail and delivering his own unique tastings.

It was great having Mark on and he had some great knowledge and stories to tell.

His blind tastings are legendary and very regular in and around the Edinburgh area and he can be found in the Royal Mile Whiskies shop on the Royal Mile most days if you want to buy some whisky from him.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jollytopertastings/?locale=en_GB

Enjoy

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Thomas wanted to get into working in whisky to be around his pals and to learn more about the industry.

Having spent some time working with our own Ross Barr at Scotch in the Balmoral in Edinburgh, it didn't take long for Tam to gain a real insight into the wonderful world of whisky.

Since then he's started his own lockdown business and now works as Brand Ambassador for Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers representing their brands - Carn Mor, Old Perth, Mac-Talla and Aberargie Distillery.

As ever this episode was a lot of fun to record. Tam brought in some great samples for us to try which included this years Islay Whisky Festival Mac-Talla release which was incredible.

Enjoy

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We're fast becoming a 'whisky couples' podcast now and it was great to welcome Sian Buchan on to the podcast with her husband and previous guest Jody and Paddy the dog.

Sian owns Uno Mas in Edinburgh which is a very relaxed and easy going bar open till late and the perfect location for 'one more' before heading home.

Having previously worked for Old Pulteney, Sian is very familiar with her whiskies and has made sure that the back bar at Uno Mas is stocked with interesting and very enjoyable drams along with plenty of other spirits from around the world.

Although this episode was all about Sian, Jody was happy to keep their dog Paddy happy and chip in occasionally too. He even got to give us a bonus dram on top of his previous What 3 Drams from his episode.

As ever, this was a lot of fun, Jody and Sian live for the hospitality industry and both work so hard. It was great hearing their stories and having a great laugh.

Enjoy!

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As the new Global Brand Ambassador it was great to get Stewart Dick down to Edinburgh and into the pub while he was on his travels spreading the word and dishing out drams of whisky from Torabhaig Distillery on the Isle of Skye.

Skye has become a massive tourist destination for Scotland and when it comes to whisky on Skye, Talisker is the one that most people will think of. Mainly because it's the only one that's been on the island for years and years.

But now Torabhaig have started producing and it's not only giving the tourists an extra whisky tour to squeeze in on a visit to Skye (if you can get past the German campervans), it's also providing exciting jobs and opportunities for the locals too.

Stewart has gone from running his own pub to starting a wholesale paper and office supplies company. But it was his love for hospitality and working with whisky which took him to the famous Tomatin Distillery.

From there, he became a very familiar face on TikTok as the Dramdabbler and has now amassed over 50k followers on the platform and shares very entertaining and insightful videos for his audience.

But the opportunity to become Global Brand Ambassador for Mossburn Distillers brought him to where he is today.

Stewart is a whisky geek and we loved hearing all about the way whisky is made at Torabhaig.

Graeme also brought in some very interesting bottles he had acquired in the latest auctions, a very dinky 50cl bottle of history from the 1970's and a humongous 1.75L bottle of something else.

Tune in to listen and enjoy.

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Danny's job is basically to travel around the world telling incredible stories and getting people to drink Grant's Whisky.

And he's extremely good at both of those things.

For the third week in a row we have yet another Scotch Whisky Experience alumni on the podcast and what a recording it was.

Danny has worked in the industry since he was 18. While he was working behind a whisky bar in Edinburgh, he entered a competition to become the Global Brand Ambassador for one of the most popular whisky brands in the world - Grant's Whisky.

From 5,000 initial applicants, he was the one who made it and has spent the last 6 years travelling around the world, putting on some incredible events and spreading the word about Grant's and the William Grant and Sons family business.

As always, it was a great night enjoying drams, swapping stories and learning all about the life of a Global Brand Ambassador.

Enjoy

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Once again we were joined by another alumni of the Scotch Whisky Experience who has gone on to forge his own path in the wonderful world of whisky.

Whisky and tourism goes hand in hand in Scotland and Alex has worked in creating experiences for tourists and visitors throughout his career.

As Visitor Attraction Manager at the Glenturret Distillery in Creif, Alex oversees the different tours and experiences on offer which can range from a 45 min tour with a dram for £18 all the way to an overnight stay and a luxury 14 course taster menu in The Glenturret LALIQUE 2 Michelin-star Restaurant with plenty of drams.

As per usual, this was a great laugh to record and we heard some fantastic stories and tasted some great drams.

Enjoy

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