Whisky Stories Podcast

Graeme Kilgour

Instagram - @whiskystoriespod
YouTube - @whiskystoriespod

Jump into the Whisky Stories Podcast and enjoy relaxed, funny and entertaining whisky chat in the pub.

We don't take whisky too seriously and are always learning on the way.

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20 episodes
Updated Thursday
Explicit

Episodes20

Newest first

Thursday · 1 hr 39 min
Islay Debrief — Distillery Ratings, Listener Questions and What Whisky Would You Save If the Ferry Was Sinking?
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.
July 23 · 1 hr 46 min
Bunnahabhain with David Brodie - Stories and Drams at the Distillery
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
July 16 · 1 hr 37 min
The Kilchoman Story - How to start a new distillery on Islay
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!
July 9 · 1 hr 36 min
Glenfiddich Malt Master: How Do You Make The Biggest Selling Single Malt In The World?
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.
July 2 · 1 hr 34 min
Mike McGinty: The Stories Behind Dewars and the Distilleries
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.
June 25 · 1 hr 38 min
What are the Scottish Whisky Awards?
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.
June 18 · 1 hr 18 min
60 Years of Tamnavulin with Whisky Maker Kirsty Hodge & Distillery Manager Trevor Milne
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.
June 11 · 1 hr 54 min
14 Years Selling Whisky - Lessons from working and managing The Whisky Shop
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.
June 4 · 1 hr 43 min
Scottish Story Telling - The Full Scottish Experience with Alex Thomson
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.
May 28 · 1 hr 43 min
How to Build an Independent Bottler Business - Lady of the Glen
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.
May 21 · 1 hr 33 min
Drams with Pals — Listener Questions, Favourite Guests & Dream Distillery Visits
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.
May 14 · 1 hr 46 min
Finn Thomson: 250 Years of Family Whisky History and the Art of Independent Bottling
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
May 7 · 1 hr 20 min
Whisky Stories Live — Adelphi & Ardnamurchan Take Over Mother Superior
It was a big night at Mother Superior for our Whisky Stories LIVE event with Adelphi and Ardnamurchan. After our trip to the distillery, it was great to sit down with a group on a Friday night and go through a great lineup which included our very own hand picked cask sample we drew on our trip to the distillery. We had Calum Rafferty and Connie MacDonald in representing Adelphi and Ardnamurchan and they brought some great drams along with them. Another great night with loads of laughs and great whisky.
April 30 · 1 hr 30 min
How Do You Blend the World's Best Selling Whisky? — Johnnie Walker Master Blender Dr Emma Walker
This is the big one. Dr. Emma Walker is the Master Blender for Johnnie Walker. That's got to be the biggest job in whisky. She is responsible for blending and signing off on all Johnnie Walker products and she talked us through the whole process. Getting to sit down and have some drams with Emma has been one of the best experiences I've had since starting the podcast. Hearing her explain the magnitude of the job that she has, managing 11 million casks of whisky, maintaining the quality and consistency of a product that's sold all over the world, and creating exciting new releases for new individual markets. This podcast was a proper insight into one of the biggest drinks brands in the world.
April 23 · 1 hr 47 min
The Two Best Selling Single Malts in the UK: Andrew Lennie, Whyte & Mackay
This week's episode is with Andrew Lennie who is the Global Whisky Specialist for Whyte & Mackay. This episode is actually part of our collaboration with Whyte & Mackay to celebrate the 60th anniversary for Tamnavulin Distillery. In this episode we hear about how Andrew got into whisky and worked his way to becoming the Global Whisky Specialist for Whyte & Mackay. We talked about the whole Whyte & Mackay portfolio which includes The Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Tamnavulin. We talked about the incredible stat that Jura and Tamnavulin are number 1 and number 2 best seeling single malt whisky in the UK for off-trade in volume and value which is mental. Jura being number 1 and Tamnavulin being number 2. We also spoke about the unique still cooling system at Fettercairn as well as their use of Scottish oak which is really interesting. Ross had the Fettercairn 18 which is 100% finished in Scottish oak. We also got a chance to try the 2 NEW and EXCLUSIVE Tamnavulin Special releases. One being the 25 year old celebration single cask for the 60th anniversary which was actually distilled and put into the cask in 2000 when the distillery was mothballed and we also tried their single cask release for Spirit of Speyside Festival which will only be available at the distillery for the 1 week that it is open to the public during the festival.
April 16 · 1 hr 37 min
The Most Important Ingredient in Whisky Nobody Talks About — David Hannah, Muntons Malt
Anyone who knows the pod will know that we never ignore barley chat. However, we've had Master Blenders, Distillers, Distillery Owners and Founders on the pod, but never had a Maltster. David Hannah is Head of Distillery Sales - Global for Muntons Malt. Basically, it's his job to travel around the world talking to Distillery Managers and selling them malted barley. David said that it might not be the sexiest part of the process, but it's definitely the most important. And we deep dive into the world of malting in this episode. This was a lot of fun to record, David is a keen listener of the pod and we had a few more drams after recording.
April 9 · 1 hr 44 min
Flora Outram: Old Pulteney, Scottish Prohibition and a Single Malt from Thailand
We're BIG fans of Old Pulteney on the pod. But we don't know enough about it. So we had Flora Outram who is a Brand Ambassador for International Beverage. She covers everything in their portfolio from New Zealand whisky and vodka, Thai Single Malt and all of their Scotch brands. Thankfully for us, Old Pulteney is one of the brands she covers. We tried some great drams and heard about the amazing history of the distillery which is turning 200 years old this year. Prohibition in Scotland, salinity tasting notes and loads of laughs. This was a lot of fun to record.
April 2 · 1 hr 54 min
How did Ardnamurchan Distillery start?- Managing Director Alex Bruce
We're HUGE fans of Ardnamurchan on the podcast. So it made sense for us to find out the story of how it started. Alex Bruce is the Managing Director of Ardnamurchan and Adelphi. In this episode he talks us through how he started out at Adelphi in 2004 with nothing more than a black book of contacts, a filing cabinet, fax machine and 3 casks. From there he grew Adelphi into a premium highly sought after Independent Bottler and then made the decision it was time to build a distillery. This was a lot of fun and there were some amazing drams he was kind enough to bring in with him.
March 26 · 1 hr 12 min
How to get whisky into America with Importer Howard Sacks
We met Howard a year ago up in Dornoch and when he contacted us to let us know he was coming back, we had to meet up for a couple of drams. We managed to sneak a recording in on Saturday morning in Diggers before the Independent Whisky Festival in Leith. It was an early start, but we still managed some 'breakfast drams'. Howard talked us through how he started out as a Whisky Importer in the U.S, the challenges of getting whisky into America, how he selects the brands he works with, and why he decided to look at Independent Distilleries and Bottlers rather than going main stream. This is a fascinating insight and the drams were fantastic too.
March 19 · 1 hr 40 min
Blender - Bottler - Distiller Spotlight: Aberargie Inaugural Release
The first Whisky Stories Spotlight event of 2026 was a special one! Not only were we christening the new Diggers Leith with the first tasting in the pub, we were also getting to try a BRAND NEW Single Malt from Aberargie Distillery. Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers are Blenders, Bottlers and Distillers. And Good Pal of the Pod Tam Cuthbert came along to share some great drams with us and tell their story. We enjoyed a Carn Mor Linkwood, Aberargie Inaugural Release, Old Perth and Mac-Talla. Another cracking night with a room full of people enjoying the great drams.