“If you’re looking to create a whisky,” says John Moore of Stirling Whisky Company, “you need two things. You need the body to be fit and healthy. So the distillate must be good.
“And then you need to put a really good suit on it. And it’s got to be a suit that complements the whisky. And I think the GlenAllachie 15 does that perfectly.”
GlenAllachie 15 is John’s “banker”; his “go-to”; the one whisky he “would never grow tired of.”
It’s a full-bodied whisky, he says, with “complexity”, which “coupled with the Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez that they have in it, gives it a sweetness and additional notes.
“I just think it’s wonderful.”
John’s been thinking a lot about creating a whisky.
He’s trying to get a new distillery off the ground in Ardrishaig, a coastal village on Loch Gilp on the west coast of Scotland, “at the gateway to Kintyre and the gateway to Islay, the gateway to Campbeltown,” as John describes it.
All this talk of Adrishaig is enough to distract the other John - our John, you know John Beattie - from whisky chat.
“I love Adrishaig!” exclaims JB. “It’s a strange wee, run-down place nowadays. But it’s on the way to Kennacraig, on the way to Islay, on the Crinan Canal.”
“Yeah, it’s a wonderful part of the world,” John Moore responds. “I’ve been going up to that area for all of my life.”
And the two Johns are off.
They’re talking about the views: “Yeah you can look right down the loch, can’t you? See right down the loch. And I remember thinking, what’s that?” JB enthuses. “It’s Arran. It’s the island straight down the middle of the loch.”
They’re talking about the history and the standing stones: “You know the history,” exclaims JM. “I mean, it’s a beautiful, unbelievably beautiful part of the country. But the history that is immersed in the soil up there.”
“I mean,” he continues, “it goes back 10,000 years.”
And that’s the attraction. That’s why John Moore wants to start a distillery in Adrishaig. It’s the spirit of the place. It’s the legacy in every nook and cranny; in every view and vista.
And he wants to give something back; stop the decline.
So the new Adrishaig Distillery - “There used to be a distillery called Glenfyne, which closed in 1936.” - is intended to capture the spirit of the place.
“Our belief is all about place,” John tells John. “We’ve been speaking to Mark Reynier of Bruichladdich fame. And he obviously introduced this sort of really barley focused, terroir driven kind of whisky that they have down there.
“And that’s something I believe in as well.”
For someone who got into the whisky industry “purely by accident… 12 years or so ago”, John’s become a whisky evangelist.
So join the two Johns as they discuss John M’s journey from corporate finance to cask investment to distillery founder.
There are some cautionary tales along the way as John M warns about the risks of investing in casks and offers invaluable advice on how to do it safely.
And find out how he ended up with a rugby ball from Scotland’s 1984 Grand Slam match against France, which John Beattie doesn’t remember signing…
Here’s to the spirit of a place, literal and physical.
Slàinte!
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Socials: @C2GWhisky | @JohnRossBeattie
Creator & producer: David Holmes
Art work & design: Jess Robertson
Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home)
Vocals: Andrea Cunningham
Guitars: John Beattie
Bass: Alasdair Vann
Drums: Alan Hamilton
Bagpipes: Calum McColl
Accordion: Gary Innes
Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie
Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
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