Browsing Posts in: In Their Own Words

Dan Szor is the founder of Cotswolds Distillery. He left behind a career in finance to follow his love of whisky and build the first distillery in the area. After years of development and hard…

Malcolm Waring is the distillery manager at Old Pulteney, until recently the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland. He tells us how Old Pulteney got its name, his reaction to winning the most coveted…

Glendronach brand ambassador Stewart Buchanan led a great masterclass at this year’s Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in which he delved into the distillery’s past and showed various drams from yesteryear as well as more modern…

At this year’s Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, Buffalo Trace master blender Drew Mayville led a masterclass – The Art of Whiskey – in which he looked back at the long history of the distillery and…

Tom Kitchin is owner of award-winning restaurant The Kitchin, in Leith, Scotland and The Scran & Scallie gastropub in Edinburgh. He was awarded his first Michelin star aged just 29, and has worked with some of the world’s…

Maureen Robinson is a master blender for Diageo’s whisky team, and is involved in both blended Scotch and single malts, as well as helping to choose the eagerly awaited Special Releases each year. She is also…

Islay native Adam Hannett has some very big shoes to fill. As head distiller at Bruichladdich since summer 2015, he and distillery manager Allan Logan have taken over the running of one of Scotland’s best-loved distilleries,…

Colin Dunn has done more than most to get people switched on to whisky. After a spell with Suntory, he moved to Diageo in 2008, educating drinkers about the delights of the company’s numerous single…

Frapin is one of the most highly rated houses in the Cognac region, with a range of elegant, classy bottlings that reflect the Grande Champagne terroir where its vineyards are based. I met up with…

Glenfarclas is a rare example of a Scottish distillery that is still in independent hands. I sat down with director of sales, George Grant, as the distillery celebrated 150 years of Grant family ownership. ‘The…

Cleo Rocos is recognisable to many for her TV career in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably as co-star of The Kenny Everett Television Show. These days she is known for being the queen of…

Telecoms-project-manager-turned-distiller Phil Brandon founded Rock Town in 2010, the first legal distillery in Arkansas. While he’s based in downtown Little Rock, he spends a lot of time on the road, travelling around the USA and…

We recently managed to grab a few minutes before a whisky tasting with Ardbeg distillery manager Mickey Heads. Here’s what he had to say about life on Islay. ‘I was born in Port Ellen too…

‘I got into whisky because of my family. My grandfather, who recently passed away at 106, had drunk whisky all of his life. Sherry was his other tipple, but I didn’t speak Spanish so the…

Alan Winchester is one of most respected names in Scotch whisky. He has worked in a multitude of roles in the business, and was appointed master distiller of The Glenlivet in 2009. With the arrival…

After wowing the Edinburgh bar scene with her mixology skills, then educating whisky fans at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Georgie Bell is now on a mission to get people drinking Mortlach single malt. We…

We caught up with Newsnight presenter and author Kirsty Wark to discuss her love of Scotch whisky, what she likes to drink, and how she drinks it.

After 14 years in Australia, new Balvenie brand ambassador James Buntin is back in the UK, on a mission to spread the word about this highly regarded distillery and its whiskies. We met up with…