whisky talk

With a new owner, a new look – and even a new date of birth – Glenturret distillery is emerging from the shadows to take its place in the single malt spotlight. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society paid a visit for Whisky Talk to find out more.

Dennis Malcolm started out at Glen Grant distillery in Speyside as a 15-year-old apprentice cooper. He worked his way up through different roles in the distillery, and 60 years later he is now Scotland’s long-serving distiller. He tells Whisky Talk about his life, career and the momentous changes he has witnessed in an incredible six decades of life in distilleries.

Ardnamurchan distillery is tucked away at the end of Scotland’s most westerly peninsula, where the natural environment is playing a major role in both fuelling and flavouring the spirit. Alex Bruce, managing director of distillery owner Adelphi, tells Whisky Talk all about it.

Imogen Russon-Taylor started out working in whisky before her nose led her to explore the possibility of creating her own perfumes, and after a period of in-depth research she launched Scotland’s first perfume house, known as Kingdom Scotland. Madeleine Schmoll from the SMWS caught up with Imogen to explore the subject of scent memories, being inspired by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and why a splash of perfume can enhance our mood, whether we’re able to leave the house or not. Special Guest: Madeleine Schmoll.

His ground-breaking 1993 novel Trainspotting centered on a bunch of heroin addicts in Leith, but these days whisky is more likely to be a plot point in author Irvine Welsh's work. He’s now a member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and sat down with Unfiltered editor Richard Goslan at The Vaults over a few drams to discuss his whisky journey, the influence of mind-altering drugs on the work of Robert Burns and why Scotland in general and Leith in particular will always be an exotic location for his fiction.

Pip Hills, the founder of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, tells Whisky Talk the remarkable and unlikely story of how The Vaults in Leith became the Society's spiritual home.

With thousands of whisky podcasts to choose from, we put out a call to our members and the SMWS team to ask them for their top picks. The Society's Mads Schmoll compiled her list and found out more from the top podcasters about who they are and how they started out. Special Guest: Madeleine Schmoll.

The first of England's new distilleries to set up was at St George's in Norfolk, where Andrew Nelstrop helped his father realise a long-held dream of opening his own whisky distillery in 2006. He tells Whisky Talk all about it.

Traceability is at the heart of Spirit of Yorkshire distillery's operations, which started distilling in 2016, explains co-founder and crop scientist David Thompson.

The Lakes Distillery started operations in December 2014 and recruited Dhavall Gandhi in 2016. Since then he has brought a whole world of inspiration and creativity to whisky making and maturation.

Bimber Distillery was founded in London in 2015 and laid down its first casks in May 2016. In this episode of Whisky Talk, we talk to the distillery's Matt McKay about the distillery's origins, what it does differently, and the future of the English whisky scene in general.

Daniel Szor, founder of the Cotswolds distillery, tells Whisky Talk about how he turned his passion for single malt whisky into a radical career change, from working in finance to setting up his own distillery in the English countryside in 2014.

The SMWS paid a visit in early 2019 to the Isle of Arran to check on the progress of the new Lagg distillery on the south of the island, which will be the 'peated' sister to Lochranza distillery in the north.

Ardmore distillery is nestled in a remote corner of Aberdeenshire, and isn't usually open to visitors. Thankfully, distillery manager George Forsyth and the team threw wide its doors to the team from Unfiltered on a memorable visit we made in 2018.

Making whisky on the Isle of Raasay is a modern success story that is down to determination and hard work, but it's also bringing new life to an island that has seen more than its share of hardship in the past, as Richard Goslan discovers.

With demand for hand-sanitiser outstripping supply, distilleries big and small have been playing a key role in providing frontline care workers with essential supplies. Richard Goslan caught up with the team at the Glasgow Distillery Company to find out about how they’ve been able to help out.

Its construction has been delayed because of archeological finds and it finally started distilling as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the UK. But the stills are running at Bonnington distillery in Leith, and the team are looking to a bright future.

Charlie MacLean is not only a leading authority on all things whisky, he's also a long-standing member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Tasting Panel. In this episode of Whisky Talk, he describes his role on the Society's Tasting Panel and provides a masterclass in the appreciation and evaluation of single malt whisky.

It's 100 years since Rita Cowan fell in love with her family's Japanese lodger, Masataka Taketsuru, when he stayed with her family while studying Organic Chemistry at Glasgow University. They were married in January 1920 and by the end of the year they had spent time at Hazelburn Distillery in Campbeltown before setting sail for Japan, where Rita supported Masataka's dream of creating a little bit of Scotland in Japan. Whisky Talk tells their story, with the help of Scottish Distillers Association chairman Professor Alan Wolstenholme, whisky writer Dave Broom, co-ordinator of Mandarin Chinese at Imperial College London Ruth Herd, chief blender at Nikka Distillery Tadashi Sakuma and Dr Niall Mackenzie from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow.

Whisky Talk travels to Glencoe to catch up with Scottish actor Sam Heughan, otherwise known as Jamie Fraser in the historical time travel series Outlander. We find out about his passion for Scotch, his own new whisky project, as well as the travel and history documentary he’s shooting around Scotland with Outlander co-star Graham McTavish – who plays the role of Dougal McKenzie.