Knock Tales Whisky Podcast with Gordon Bruce

Peat. One of whisky’s most divisive flavours, sparking lots of love, a little bit of hate, but always a lively conversation amongst drinkers. That’s exactly what we’ve captured in our latest episode, as anCnoc introduces two new peated single malts to the world: Sherry Cask Finish, Peated Edition and the long awaited limited edition, Peatheart Batch 3. To fuel the discussion Gordon welcomes anCnoc Brand Ambassador Stuart Baxter back to the Knockdhu mic for a chat and a tasting. Stuart has bee...

Nordic whisky is having a moment. And in this month’s episode Gordon chats to one of its pioneers: Hans Martin Hansgaard, co-founder of Stauning Distillery.This former teacher clubbed together with a group of friends (a butcher, helicopter pilot, doctor, several engineers and a chef) to found Denmark’s first ever single malt whisky distillery. And why not? They’d heard a radio programme about exactly how Scotch whisky is made and realised that, when it comes to the essentials - the water, the...

What difference does an extreme distillery location make to a finished bottle of whisky? That’s the topic that Gordon gets into with his special guest in this episode: the inspiring Desiree Reid, founder of Cardrona Distillery which she built from scratch in New Zealand’s remote Southern Alps. A former farmer, Desiree chats to Gordon about following her long held dream to make whisky in the spectacular Cardrona Valley, and the behind the scenes story of how she got there. From a me...

What’s the deal with craft? That’s the question that Gordon and guests dive into in this episode of Knock Tales, featuring craft beer supremo Karan Nagpal from Glasgow’s Overtone Brewing and Gordon’s anointed ‘stunt double’, anCnoc Global Brand Ambassador Stewart Baxter. After the first anCnoc Craft Cast event at Karan’s brewery a few weeks ago, this gang of craft obsessives pick apart the whole idea of craft production, how the word is used and abused in the industry, and what you’re ac...

Chocolate and a whisky: a match made in heaven. And the perfect combination for the start of Knock Tale’s second series. In this episode Gordon chats to chocolate maestro Calum Haggerty, the brains behind Scotland’s deliciously crafted COCO chocolate. This former fire service worker tells Gordon why he followed his passion for food, art and design to create a range of chocolate that’s beautiful both inside and out, made with the wellbeing of cacao growers at its heart and always ‘dressed...

In this bumper festive edition, Gordon takes a look back at some of his favourite bits from Knock Tales 2021: the life lessons and laughs, the stories of creativity, community and daily passion that our craft obsessed guests from around the world put into their products, whether they’re in South America, Sweden, Tasmania or Texas. We have American craft distiller Jared Himstedt sharing secrets from behind the scenes of building Balcones Distillery from scratch; Sweden’s Henric Molin on ...

From illicit home brewing in his teenage bedroom to converting the eaves of his family home into a makeshift curing chamber, Gordon meets an unstoppable maker in this month’s podcast: Steven Anderson of East Coast Cured. Having fallen in love with charcuterie in the South of France, this former brewer and distiller wondered why no one in Scotland was curing the nation’s world class meats to compete with continental makers.Alongside his wife Susie, he took the leap and founded his Leith b...

In this episode, Gordon leaves the comfort of the whisky making world behind to talk light, technique, and yes, even Tik Tok, with Canadian photography and single malt fanatic Erik McRitchie.As a founder of the globally successful @frombarreltobottle Instagram account, Erik has spent the past few years combining his passions for whisky, photography and adventure into one extraordinary visual feast for drinkers.He reassures the legendary low-tech Gordon that the perfect whisky photo has nothin...

In this episode Gordon jumps feet first into a vat of grapes, hard graft and global success as he gets the lowdown on English wine – courtesy of Emma Rice, Head Wine Maker at the multi award-winning Hattingley Valley Winery in Hampshire. Don’t expect polite chit chat over a glass of fizz…the pair get straight into the joys of working in the countryside, getting your hands dirty, grape varieties and whether or not you have to be born with a good ‘nose’ for the job. As you’d expect from so...

What led two young Australian engineers to pack in their jobs and build a distillery from scratch in one of the most remote corners of the world? In this episode, tune in to hear Kiera Shiels and Matt Oberg of Last Hope Distillery in Patagonia give Gordon the lowdown on their great leap of faith, and a new life crafting small batch gin and whisky in Puerto Natales.Knockdhu is out of the way, but Last Hope Distillery takes remote to the next level. Trips to the city happen twice a year, the wi...