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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We think Alistair is the first person we have had on the podcast who is a born and bred Speysider.

Growing up a stones throw away from Glen Moray in Elgin, Alistair was destined to work in whisky.

In this episode we were back in our new home from home - The Kilderkin Pub in Edinburgh and back in our usual booth.

Alistair is now Head of Visitor Experience at the famous Scotch Whisky Experience which has now become a hotbed for future whisky ambassadors, journalists and people working in the production of whisky.

Alistair talks us through his journey into the world of whisky and as per usual, after a couple of drams, the conversation and stories just began to flow.

Discussions about everything from drinking drams in a hot tub to visiting barley conferences in London, this episode is packed with the usual Whisky Stories nonsense.

Pour a dram, sit back and enjoy.

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Ross said on the first episode of this podcast that 'Big Cam' is his "Whisky Dad".

We've all got to know Cameron from either working with him or enjoying his hospitality skills as the man behind Scotch in the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.

As you will hear in this episode, Cameron has been part of creating a whisky experience in Scotch for hotel guests and whisky lovers to experience an incredible range of whiskies.

He's got some great stories and even brought in some great samples for us to enjoy during and after the episode.

Once again a big thanks to The Athletic Arms for having us.

Enjoy

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Duggie is pretty much responsible for making sure the large majority of pubs, bars and hotels around Scotland are well stocked with whisky.

The Royal Mile Whiskies shop on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh has become one of Scotland's most established whisky shops.

With shelves stocked from the ground to the ceiling with thousands of different whiskies to chose from and staff who have been there so long the come with the lease of the building, it really is a treat (an expensive one) to visit and check out what they have in stock and have a good old chat.

But as well as being a retailer on the 'High Street', Royal Mile Whiskies are also a very established wholesaler of whisky to bars, hotels restaurants and pubs around the whole of Scotland and some of England.

And Duggie is the man in charge of managing the sales to all trade customers.

It was great to be back in the Athletic Arms enjoying our spot in the 'Snug'.

Angus and Graeme had been out 'working' at the Fife Whisky Festival and had lots of chat to report back from their first ever experience as 'Guest Exhibitors'.

Seeing as they enjoyed it so much, if there are any other whisky companies, distilleries or bottlers who are brave enough to let the 2 of them loose on your stand at any other whisky festivals or shows then I'm sure they would happily oblige.

Enjoy

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This week we were recording our first ever episoed in the NEW Digger Leith which only opened a few days ago.

The first half of this episode was recorded during a power cut. But we had plenty of drams to get through, so we lit some candles, poured some drams and got chatting. This week we had really good 'Pal of the Pod' Fraser Souness on to talk us through what's happening at Gordon & Macpahil, the latest chat on the new Cairn Distillerly inaugural release AND I had brought back some Indian goodies. We tried some 'whisky cartons' which ended up with very mixed reviews as well as some proper Indian single malt from Pujl John and Indrie. Enhjoy

It was a birthday treat for Ross as we were invited to sample the atmosphere and whisky at the Whisky Stories Landlord Kev's latest pub - The Kilderkin at the bottom of the Royal Mile.

Kev was our second ever episode and first official guest (Ross was meant to be a guest but he just kept coming back every week..).

It was great to catch up with Kev again and hear about his exciting plans for the pub which was very busy when we recorded.

Kev seems to have found a blueprint for taking over bars and pubs and turning them into places with a reputation for good whisky, fair prices and a very welcoming atmosphere.

It was great to be in different surroundings for this episode and celebrate the youngster of the podcast turning 25 years old (we're sure he's actually 45 years old).

Find out more about The Kilderkin:

• Facebook
• Instagram

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When Conor came to Scotland for a holiday it didn't take him long to realise that he had to stay.

With plenty of experience in working in the bar trade, Conor began to learn more and more about whisky.

But it was during lockdown when he really began to study the whisky making process and it wasn't long before an opportunity of a lifetime landed on his lap and he began working at the new Holyrood Distillery in Edinburgh.

What's interesting about Holyrood is that the distillery is not doing what most others do when it comes to finding a distinct flavour and sticking with it.

As Conor explains, it's all about experimenting and playing around with different yeasts, malts and fermentation to explore what kind of flavours can be created.

As the Senior Distiller at the distillery, Conor overseas all of that process in the early production stages and explains his role and his journey into whisky.

Once again, a big thanks to the Athletic Arms for having us and it was also a welcome return for Ross Bar who was back and looking refreshed after his wedding planning State Side.

Enjoy

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This is a Whisky Stories epic episode with over 2 hours of whisky chat, story telling, tasting drams and lots of laughs.

Mike Brown is a brand ambassador for Ian Macleod Distillers who own Glengoyne Distillery, Tamdhu Distillery, Rosebank Distillery and the brand Smokehead.

Mike's job is to talk about all of these distilleries and brands and he's very, very good at his job.

Like a lot of brand ambassadors, Mike started working in the bar trade but it was his Scottish roots that brought him up north of the border and it wasn't long before he was working in whisky.

In this episode, Mike talks us through the stories, whiskies and history of Glengoyne, Tamdhu, Smokehead and Rosebank and he brought some lovely samples in for us to try as well.

One sample which was incredible to taste was the new make spirit from the newly revamped and redeveloped Rosebank Distillery.

As you'll probably tell from the intro to this episode and my voice from about halfway through, we did enjoy a dram or 2 or 3 while recording this. But the sore head the next morning was totally worth it and we had a lot of fun while recording.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

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George and Rachel are the second 'whisky couple' to join us on the podcast.

Having met through whisky at the Soho Whisky Club in London, they've had a journey through whisky that has taken them to Australia and then back to Scotland.

George worked as General Manager at the Soho Whisky Club and it was there that Rachel first clocked eyes on the handsome chap working behind the bar.

It wasn't long before they were on their travels to Australia where George spent some time working at the Starward Distillery in Melbourne.

It was there where he got some hands-on experience in distilling whisky and getting to know exactly how a distillery works from the inside.

When they moved back to the UK Keeble Cask Co. was started and George operated as a broker selling casks to different buyers.

Then in January 2023, they decided to bottle their first whisky under the brand Fragrant Drops and they haven't looked back.

George and Rachel were great fun to have on and had plenty of brilliant stories and lots of information on the wonderful word of independently bottles whisky. And they get extra bonus points for bringing in their own samples for us too!

Enjoy

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Angus and Graeme took a trip to St Andrews to meet Chris and Euan from Eden Mill.

Although the new distillery is currently under construction and not expected to be fully completed until spring/summer 2025, we were able to enjoy recording this episode in the cosy cabin they have on site called The Bothy.

Eden Mill already has single malt whisky and a blend on the market. The distillery has been producing whisky since 2013 and there are plenty of casks sitting maturing nicely for bottling between now and when the new distillery will reopen.

We heard all about the exciting plans as well as the history behind the distillery in the area.

There was loads of great chat about the local area and surrounding areas in Fife.

Euan and Chris were great hosts and cracked open a couple of bottles for Angus to enjoy as Graeme was the designated driver for this trip.

This was great fun to record and we really enjoyed being out 'on the road' recording an episode at a distillery (or construction site of a distillery).

To find out more about Eden Mill, you can check out their website - https://www.edenmill.com/

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Woody and Megan are our first 'whisky couple' to have joined us on the podcast.

Woody travelled from Hong Kong to Edinburgh to study Medical Science, but after realising he was no good in the lab, he decided to swap that and begin his journey into brewing and distilling.

Megan and Woody began by exporting Scottish beer and spirits to the eastern Asian markets and decided to invest in a cask of whisky.

Now they have their own warehouse, bottling line and a van. They supply bars and shops around the UK with their independently bottled whisky as well as supporting other indy bottlers with stock and their bottling and labelling services.

We took a real deep dive into the world of independent bottling, cask purchasing and investment and found out exactly how much work goes into starting your own whisky business.

This was a lot of fun to record once again at The Athletic Arms in Edinburgh and we enjoyed a good few of their whiskies that they had on offer.

You can find all you need to know about Woodrow's of Edinburgh through their website - https://www.woodrowswhisky.com/

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Simon Smith doesn't just know his way around a whisky bar, he literally curates and creates them.

In our longest episode recorded, Simon talks us through his journey from Australia to Inverary in the Nort West of Scotland and how he became known within the industry for his incredible work in curating and creating whisky collections.

Simon created his own business from writing about the cynicism in whisky online in his blog.

What started as a way to keep him amused during lockdown, has now grown into his own business which specialises in events, training and consultancy for whisky and other spirits.

He has also opened his own pop-up bar in Edinburgh City Centre which was so successful over the festive period he has extended his license to keep it open for another couple of months.

As this will be going up on Burns Night, we also spend some time talking about the great Bard and his connections to the whisky industry.

There's also some very ropey and probably not fully factual history stories dotted in this episode.

This is our longest episode that we've recorded, but the drams were flowing and the chat was great and we could easily have gone on and chatted for much longer.

Pour yourself a dram, sit back and relax to another episode of the Whisky Stories Podcast.

How to find Simon - https://www.whiskyandcynicism.com/

Instagram - whiskyandcynicism

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Fraser and Ross have known each other for nearly 24 years, which is the same time Angus and Graeme have been pals since the old days at school.

So this made the perfect episode to sip some drams and enjoy being old pals.

Fraser works in luxury hospitality at the amazing Scotch Bar in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh. With over 500 whiskies to chose from, and the expertise of the guys behind the bar, Scotch is a great place for anyone to visit. They also boast to having the only open bottle of 40 year old Macallan (outside of the distillery) in Scotland, available for an eye watering £850.

Fraser talks us through his experience in becoming one of the whisky ambassadors for the bar, what he had to learn and shares some great stories of his time working behind the bar and delivering great tastings.

Ross and Fraser grew up together on the sunny shores of Dumbar, but after school they drifted apart, only to find themselves both working behind the bar in Scotch years later as colleagues.

Fraser has some great stories and we all had a good laugh recording this one with a few fantastic drams to go with it.

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Jody is a well known character in the world of whisky. As you'll be able to tell in this episode, he's got plenty of chat and loves a dram.

Big shout out to Paddy the dug (dog) who is also the first pub dog to have appeared on the podcast!

Jody didn't have the most conventional entries into the wonderful world of whisky, but that's what makes his story so good.

From working off-shore in the North Sea as a chemical engineer, to starting his own bar in Edinburgh. Jody has had a great journey which led him to becoming Brand Ambassador for Monkey Shoulder.

He's now working with different brand portfolios with an emphasis on other whiskies from around the world. This included Nikka Whisky from Japan, Taiwanese Single Malt Kavalan and the Indian classic Amrut.

What a character with a strong North Eastern Scottish accent and some brilliant stories and chat.

Once again, a big thanks to The Athletic Arms - Diggers in Edinburgh for hosting us with plenty of amazing drams on offer.

If you want to find Jody on socials, his Instagram is the best place to go - @_The_Motto_Monkey

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Meeghan has spent the majority of her working life in the drinks industry. Having started off working in bars, she's gone on to work in Japan brewing Sake, she's been involved in brewing beer, wine making and now she's a director at a new distillery in the Highlands - GlenWyvis.

As well as working in the distillery, Meeghan also has her own company called SagasuDrinks who offer a wide variety of services to the spirits, beer and wine industry. Meeghan is qualified to deliver WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) training courses - find out more.

This episode was recorded in the build up to Christmas and we were not in our usual surroundings. A big thanks to the Gleneagles Townhouse in Edinburgh City Centre for hosting us in one of their private members rooms.

We had also enjoyed a few beers and drams in the build up to recording this which made us all nice and 'relaxed' before recording.

Meeghan kindly brought in some very cool, tasty and interesting sampled from GlenWyvis Distillery for us to try.

Although the distillery isn't open to the public, I have had a chance to have a look around before recording this episode. Despite being labelled a 'new distillery', GlenWyvis already have a number of releases out and available to buy. The distillery is also very unique in the sense that it is a 'community owned' distillery in Scotland.

This was a great laugh recording and hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording.

How to find Meeghan:

Instagram - @sagasudrinks

Website - https://www.sagasudrinks.com/

GlenWhyvis Distillery - https://www.glenwyvis.com/

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When Scotland got a last minute call up to the T20 Cricket World Cup in India, and I realised they'd be in Bangalore while I was here, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

So after watching Scotland in their warm-up game against Afghanistan from outside the ground (check out the vlog) I was invited to the team hotel the next day.

You might hear from my voice in this episode that even though I didn't get into the game, we were still in fine voice.

I caught up with Charles Paterson Head of Coms and All Rounder Michael Leask in the team hotel before they headed off to kick off their World Cup campaign.

This is a great insight into cricket, what it's like scrambling to get a team together, and how whisky plays it's role.

Happy New Year from the Whisky Stories Podcast!

On the 29th Dec, Graeme and Angus visited The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh to try their new immersive whisky tour which finished with the annual Distillers' Fair.

The tour was great fun and very insightful. Lots of information about the production of whisky, the regions and the differences between single malt and blended whisky. We took the Silver Tour which lasted about 50 mins with a tour guide taking us through the building into different rooms which had multi audio and visual equipment to make the tour very immersive and engaging.

Usually the tour ends in the famous The Diageo Claive Vidiz Whisky Collection. As you walk through this incredible room full of nearly 4,000 bottles of whisky, you get drawn into looking at all the different types and brands of bottles in this amazing collection.

Thankfully, the Distillers' Fair was an added bonus and we were treated to around 12 different stalls which were all showcasing some great whiskies from around Scotland. We enjoyed chatting to the exhibitors while we sipped some generous samples that were on offer.

This was our first Whisky Stories Podcast 'school trip' and we loved it.

We hope all of our listeners have a happy and healthy New Year in 2024!

Exhibitors we spoke to in this episode:

• The Drinks Cabinet showcasing Whyte & Mackay and Edrington
• Angus Dundee Distillers with Glencadam and Tomintoul
• Arran Whisky Distillery & Lagg Whisky Distillery
• Lindores Abbey Distillery
• Douglas Laing
• Speyside Distillery
• Gleann Mor Spirits
• Ian Macleod Distillers with Tamdhu - Glengoyne and Smoke Head
• Annadale Distillery

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What an episode this was to record!

Colin Hinds has had an incredible life and journey through whisky and we were privileged enough to get to hear it first hand in the back room of the Athletic Arms in Edinburgh.

Having started out as a chef, Colin travelled the world working in some of the top tourist destinations and running a kitchen on a cruise liner. On his return to Scotland he opened his first restaurant in Edinburgh and began the popular Whisky Forager. His attention to detail when creating whisky paired menus is incredible. He gave us a great insight into how he works with the different flavour profiles of food and whisky. He even gave Angus some tips for his Christmas dinner too!

Colin also had to bounce back from cancer which involved a very aggressive treatment of radiotherapy and chemotherapy which jeopardised his ability to be able to taste. However, through months of hard work and determination, he not only beat the illness and came out the other side, he was able to recalibrate his taste buds and get back to tasting and enjoying whisky again.

He is now the proud owner of the famous Tipsy Midgie Whisky Bar in Edinburgh and in just 18 months of opening, he scooped up Scotland's Whisky Bar of the Year Award and Whisky Guru of the Year at the 2023 Scottish Pub & Bar Awards.

Colin is a big character in the world of Scotch Whisky and has some incredible stories to tell.

Check out the Tipsy Midgie - https://www.tipsymidgie.com/

Find Colin on Instagram - @WhiskyForager and @TipsyMidgie

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It all started with one photo and from there Greg Urquhart found himself managing an inventory of whisky casks.

Gleann Mor Spirits are an independent bottler from Leith, Edinburgh who are responsible for brands and whisky ranges such as Whisky Row, Edinburgh Whisky and Rare Find.

In this episode we chatted with the man responsible for managing the casks in the warehouse and creating the whisky that they produce. We hear all about the process Greg goes through when creating the flavour profiles for blending as well as sampling casks and assessing what happens to the liquid next.

Angus also gave us a brief history lesson on the infamous Pattison Brothers who were responsible for the first 'whisky crash' in the 1890s.

As always this was a very fun episode to record. Greg gave us a real insight into what he does in the wonderful world of whisky and his story of how he got into it.

His What 3 Drams are a treat as well.

Find out more about Gleann Mor Spirits and the different products and ranges on their website - https://gmspirits.com/

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Cody Reynolds didn't just love to try a dram or two while he was at university, he wrote his dissertation on it.

Having spent his early days working in the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, Cody worked his way through the ranks to eventually becoming part of their prestigious Tasting Panel. From there, Cody joined Angus Dundee Distillers as a Brand Ambassador which covers Glencadam and Tomintoul whisky.

We don't claim to be geeky or nerdy on the podcast, but Cody has no issues with the label and when you listen to this episode you'll understand why. His knowledge on the subject is incredible but his passion really does shine through. We had a great laugh recording this episode in Bennets Bar, Edinburgh and hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

The best place to find Cody online is on his Instagram account - https://www.instagram.com/mysterydrams/?hl=en

If you are in Edinburgh and fancy a nice drink in a traditional Edinburgh Pub in town then head along to Bennets, they have a great selection of beers and a very extensive whisky list -

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Jan was only supposed to be coming to Scotland from Holland to spend some time studying and learning about the hospitality industry. Thirty years on, he's still here and had a full careers working in the world of whisky.

He began working with the renowned Scotch Malt Whisky Society, initially to help set up their members bar in the centre of Edinburgh. As a whisky 'novice' he began to learn about the importance of flavour and the unique un-marked bottles that the SMWS have become famous for. Over the next 20 years, Jan would work his way up to Group Commercial and Operations Director in the UK and Europe.

This year Jan has embarked on a new challenge and is now working for The Single Cask an independent whisky bottler in Fife.

Hear all about his great story into whisky and about his career. Plus he has some fantastic whiskies for the 'What 3 Drams'.

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Hazel Macleod @HazeyDrams on Instagram, joined Graeme and Angus in the pub to chat all about her life and journey into the wonderful world of whisky.

Hazel grew up on the Outer Hebridean Island of Harris which has just released its first bottling of single malt whisky - 'The Hearach'. Having worked in life insurance sales, she made the move into whisky working as a distillery tour guide at Deanston. From there she's never looked back and now works for the family owned and world renowned William Grant & Sons in Business Development.

She has the great job of selling products from Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Monkey Shoulder and Grants Whisky to bars, clubs, pubs, hotels and restaurants around Edinburgh and the wider areas.

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Everyone wants to own their own pub. But imagine owning one that has over 700 bottles of whisky!

Kevin is living the dream in the famous Athletic Arms aka 'Diggers' pub in Edinburgh. A traditional pub that boasts having one of the largest open whisky collection in the city.

In this episode, Graeme, Ross and Angus catch up with Kevin and hear all about how he got started, his journey into whisky and an interesting tale or two from his time working behind the bar.

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This week we were joined by whisky royalty.

Raymond Davidson is the man behind the iconic glass used around the world to drink whisky.

In this episode we heard how he came up with the concept for the Glencairn whisky glass which has changed the way that whisky is served and tasted all over the world.

Raymond isn't just an icon in the Scotch Whisky world, he's a gentleman and it was amazing to spend time with him and hear his whisky stories.

Enjoy

Fraser is based in India and represents The Glenlivet, Aberlour, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and Ballantine’s. However, he is not on the podcast in an “official capacity”, therefore this was not a recording about his brands. This was a recording about him personally.

We talked about his journey into whisky, starting on the familiar path from behind the bar, to then working as a tour guide at The Glenlivet Distillery (we can talk and did talk about this), moving up to Speyside to live and breathe whisky, and then eventually moving out to India to become an International Brand Ambassador.

We recorded this episode in Tycoons Bar in Bangalore. Fraser is based in Delhi but flew to Bangalore to catch up, have some drams and record this episode.

He spoke about his experiences out in India, the differences that he’s noticed in the whisky world out in India versus in Scotland, and the Indian whisky market.

Fraser has visited 17 cities and 15 states in the 18 months that he’s been working as a brand ambassador out in India.

He also told a great story about trying some “whisky” made from replica illicit stills made from Glenfarclas stills blueprints, but a third of the size.

While I’m out in India, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to dive deep into Indian whisky and, the good folks at Paul John Distillery were more than happy to help.

After a flying visit into Goa to meet Master Distiller Michael D’Souza and get a full tour of the distillery (check out the vlog for this), I was invited to the Paul Hotel back in Bangalore for a chat and some drams with the Paul John Global Brand Ambassador Heemanshu Ashar.

Heemanshu talked me through his own beginnings and journey into whisky, and then talked about how Paul John started out.

Despite Paul John Distillery only being open from 2012, the whisky gets itself all over the world. But I wanted to know how it all started, and who is Paul John?

Heemanshu talked us through the origins of the business and explained about Mr Paul P John and the overall business John Distilleries. Blended Indian whisky, Indian wine and now Indian single malt.

Heemanshu was also kind enough to let me try the new 2025 Christmas Edition which is finished in a Cream Sherry Cask.

We’ve talked about getting Cody Reynolds back on the podcast for a long time. 

But the Angus Dundee Global Brand Ambassador is a busy man travelling the world spreading the good word of Glencadam and Tomintoul. 

Cody was our 5th episode when he first came on the podcast on the 9th of November 2023. 

He was our first Brand Ambassador to come onto the pod as well. 

One of the things that I remember most about that episdoe was Cody explaining the cycle of the whisky drinker. What makes that even more impressive is that even now, after 113 episode we are still referencing it. 

There was a good amount of whisky consumed before, during and after the podcast and Cody was kind enough to bring in a Swedish drink that I can still taste now. 

Cody has also birthed one of our next Games for the Pod with Cody Reynolds One Star Reviews!

Loads of fun on this one and lots of Glencadam, Tomintoul and general whisky chat. 

What better way to end the year than to sit down in the Diggers cellar with the owner, tuck into some drams and go through some of the best whiskies we've had this year.

We look back at what's been an amazing year for the podcast. We've had some great guests, had access to distilleries and hosted some really fun events.

We also look ahead to an exciting 2026 for Kev with the soon to be launched 'Diggers 2' down in Leith (name pending).

Thanks to everyone who's been part of the podcast for the last 12 months.

Happy New Year and here's to 2026 and plenty more drams and shenanigans.

Merry Christmas!

We had a quick Christmas catch-up in Diggers for a couple of drams (Ross had already had a few before he got there...) to lead into our North British Distillery Podcast recording.

We were given a very special gift from the guys at Royal Mile Whiskies which is something to look forward to in the new year and Ross gave us his top whiskies of 2025.

Hope you're having or had a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanks for listening.

Cheers!

This week we have Pal of the Pod Cameron Ewen in for a chat about his now job, Christmas drams and whiskies of 2025.

We were back in the Dug Oot at Diggers for this one enjoying some drams, and festive whisky chat with Cam.

Cam talked us through his new role at Diageo and some of the amazing whiskies he gets to work with. Including old Brora and Port Ellon bottlings.

We also discuss what whiskies we'll be drinking over the Christmas festivities.

Enjoy

Raymond is the man behind the iconic Glencairn whisky glass and changed the way we drink whisky.

He isn't just Whisky Royalty, he's an absolute gentleman as well.

Spending time with Raymond and hearing his whisky stories was amazing.

In this episode we hear about how he started out, what made him decide to design a glass for drinking whisky, and the journey it's taken him on.

We also enjoyed a good few drams while we were at it!

Enjoy

This week's episode is with Andrew Lennie who is the Global Whisky Specialist for Whyte & Mackay.

This episode is actually part of our collaboration with Whyte & Mackay to celebrate the 60th anniversary for Tamnavulin Distillery.

In this episode we hear about how Andrew got into whisky and worked his way to becoming the Global Whisky Specialist for Whyte & Mackay.

We talked about the whole Whyte & Mackay portfolio which includes The Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Tamnavulin. We talked about the incredible stat that Jura and Tamnavulin are number 1 and number 2 best seeling single malt whisky in the UK for off-trade in volume and value which is mental.

Jura being number 1 and Tamnavulin being number 2.

We also spoke about the unique still cooling system at Fettercairn as well as their use of Scottish oak which is really interesting. Ross had the Fettercairn 18 which is 100% finished in Scottish oak.

We also got a chance to try the 2 NEW and EXCLUSIVE Tamnavulin Special releases. One being the 25 year old celebration single cask for the 60th anniversary which was actually distilled and put into the cask in 2000 when the distillery was mothballed and we also tried their single cask release for Spirit of Speyside Festival which will only be available at the distillery for the 1 week that it is open to the public during the festival.

This one was a lot of fun to record.

Sam Simmons was one of the first online whisky bloggers with his blog Dr Whisky starting back in the early 2000s.

That took him from writing about whisky to selling it, becoming the Global Brand Ambassador for Balvennie to becoming Head of Whisky for Atom Brands.

He's responsible for putting out releases to over 1 million people around the world. Looking for cool whisky concepts, bottling it and selling it.

Sam brought in some of his own projects with him for us to try including Wormtub 10 and the famous Dalry Milk North British bottling.

There's some great whisky chat in this podcast as well as plenty of laughs and good drams.

Enjoy

We were all back in the Diggers Vaults for a recording and a catch up with Chuck, Angus, myself Ross and Scott Moore.

Ross had literally just jumped off the plane returning from his trip across the pond to see his current mother and father-in-law and our USA Brand Ambassador was about to leave from his epic whisky trip to Scotland.

There were loads of drams on the barrel for this one. With plenty of whisky chat from Scott's trip, we had whisky samples sent over and lots of catching up to do.

We chatted about our trip to Glencadam Distillery as well as our epic Edinburgh Whisky Pub Crawl.

Loads of fun and nonsense on this one. Enjoy!

How do you start a distillery on tiny island off the coast of Scotland?

We sat down with Isle of Raasay Co-founder and Master Distiller Alasdair Day and UK Sales Manager Gregor Hunter to hear the story.

Alasdair talks us through how he got into whisky through his family history connections and how things sparked from blending to distilling.

We also talked about life on the island and what the distillery is doing for the local economy and growing the island population.

The lads also brought in some fantastic drams for us to try including Isle of Raasay newmake and the first ever peated single grain whisky to be bottled.

Enjoy!

It's our birthday and to celebrate we put on a BIG Birthday Bash last Friday night at Uno Mas.

And what a night it was!

We had 55 guests, 6 brands and 7 whiskies on the lineup. There were party games and Ali Baxter Whisky Stories Bingo.

And we even had our own cask of whisky which was rolled in and hand filled on the night in the bar.

A huge thanks to everyone for coming along and being part of the special occasion and to our brands.

Woven

InchDairnie

Holyrood

Tri-Carragh

Glengoyne

Woodrow's of Edinburgh

This is a wild one. Enjoy

We were invited along to have a look around at the Woodrow's of Edinburgh warehouse with Pals of the Pod Woody and Megan.

It's always nice to get an invited into a bonded warehouse and last night we were treated to some great drams straight from the cask.

We were also sampling some whisky which will be our next Exclusive Whisky Stories Bottling!!

Woody and Megan were great hosts and as always gave us great chat and quality drams.

Arthur has been in the whisky industry for over 20 years. He's been the buyer of Scotch Malt Whisky Society and then worked his way up to Managing Director of Royal Mile Whiskies.

There's not a cask that Arthur has bought that he doesn't remember.

He's been involved in buying and selling some incredible whiskies throughout his career.

Being part of the growth of the SMWS and Royal Mile Whiskies has made him one of the most influential people within the Scotch Whisky Industry. He was responsible for what RMW would buy and how they would sell it.

He also loves talking about the history of whisky and some of the myths that surround it. He has a YouTube Channel with Dave Broom called The Liquid Antiquarian.

There's a lot of good whisky industry chat in this one.

Enjoy!

Dougal Gordon is the Brand Ambassador to Scotland for one of the best selling brands in the world, Glenfiddich. But he's also the 6th generation of the Grant Family to work in the business.

This is an episode I've been trying to make happen, and it was worth the wait.

In this episode, we get the full family history, stories of how Glenfiddich moved into becoming the top selling single malt all over the world, building distilleries against time lines and sponsoring F1 teams.

Plus Dougal was very kind not to come along empty handed as well!

Pour a dram and enjoy this cracker!

We’ve never had a wrestler on the podcast before. 

I didn’t think there were many connections between whisky and wrestling. Until I met Sam Barbour a few weeks ago who explained that he is a sales exec for La Martiniquaise who own Glen Moray and Cutty Sark. 

We’re HUGE fans of Glen Moray on the podcast.

And have talked a lot about the distillery, the variety of different cask releases and the quality of whisky and price. 

So when we got Sam on, we thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about Cutty Sark as well as his alter wrestling ego - SBX. 

He flogs whisky through the day and wrestles in the evening.

Sam is a wrestler who takes part in special wrestling events throughout Scotland. And he’s invited us along to his up coming charity wrestling night ‘WrestleMonia!’ Which is rising money for Movember. 

Angus might even put his favourite leotard on for this one!

The fact that we can seamlessly talk about wrestling and whisky shows just how far this podcast has come over the last 100 episodes. 

Sam also brought in snacks and we got a sneak peak and taste of the soon to be released Glen Moray Forbidden Fruit Calvados Cask. 

A lot of fun recording this one.