Whisky Stories Podcast

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 advocacy and training. But are we losing the Brand Ambassador? And what does Mark think?

Enjoy!

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 Luke Fenton who is the Head of On Trade in the UK for CVH.

So Julieann is responsible for getting the releases out and Luke is responsible for getting them sold.

We were through in Glasgow for this one and managed to pop in quickly to the Pot Still Pub in Glasgow for a dram before and enjoyed some drams during the recording.

Enjoy this one, it's an epic.

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 whisky.

From working in the bank to delivering tastings and tours.

David shared drams and stories with us from his own whisky journey and the distillery.

Enjoy

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.