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 setting the kiln on fire, the ethos behind 100% Islay barley, and the connection between Islay and the Land Rover.

You don't often get the chance to sit outside a working distillery, drinking drams and recording a podcast episode.

Enjoy!

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 on every bottle of Glenfiddich sold around the world.

We chat all about his career, his role, cask sniffer dogs, and what it means to be part of the biggest selling Single Malt in the world.

This is a biggy. Strap in, pour a dram and enjoy this.

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 how a gift to an American President helped create that popularity.

What makes Dewars Double Double so special?

What distillery has the kinkiest lyne arms?

Mike has so many amazing and fun whisky stories, this was a classic night in the Diggers Cellar enjoying drams and great whisky chat.

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 for judges.

This was a great insight into the work that goes into the Scottish Whisky Awards.

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 a real treat. But it was the 16 year old sample from what could be something to look forward to in the future that stole the show.

There's so much in this episode to unpack and enjoy.

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 distilleries and launches, to popular styles and flavours, and he's seen the changes in prices and consumer behaviour.

This was a lot of fun to record and there's some great dram chat in this.

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 also a member of the Athol Highlanders which is a private Scottish army.

It was great catching up with him again.

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 to sell their whisky.

This was our May Indy Bottler Spotlight tasting with a live audience, we went through their latest releases and even got our very own One of One bottle from the ONLY Solera Cask System in Scotland.

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's dad is now a listener, so hello Mr Kerr.

Ross is off to America with the Current Wife. So if anyone at Iron Fish Distillery is listening, hook him up.

Pour a dram and enjoy this.

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 business and the work that goes into starting a whisky brand.

He even brought in some of the new bottles for his latest project with the Scotland Tartan Army for the World Cup. These are the Official Tartan Army bottlings. They look and taste fantastic, and at the time of the podcast going out, they are on sale to buy. If there are any left.

Enjoy