Whisky Stories Podcast

This week, we bring you the final episode from our epic Whisky Stories road trip up north—and we’re wrapping it up in style with a private tour of Tomatin Distillery.Located in the heart of the Highlands, Tomatin is a Highland Distillery with a rich history and a reputation for producing some truly exceptional Scotch whisky. We were lucky enough to get access-all-areas, diving deep into the production process, the history of the distillery, and of course… sampling whisky straight from the cask in their oldest warehouse.Along the way, we kept the fun going with a few of our favourite games—Mystery Distillery and Play Your Distilleries Right—and we also heard the chaotic tale of Chuck’s mad dash to the airport after one too many drams the night before his flight to Japan.This episode is packed with great laughs, brilliant insight, and some stunning Tomatin whisky. A huge thanks to the team at Tomatin Distillery for the warm welcome and the unforgettable experience.Enjoy!

We’re back in Dornoch for Episode 2 of our Highland whisky adventure, and this time, Phil and Simon Thompson gave us the full behind-the-scenes tour of everything they’ve built—and everything that’s still to come.We started at the heart of it all: the Dornoch Distillery, tucked away in the back garden of Dornoch Castle. This tiny distillery—built in an old storage building—is one of the smallest in the world, but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in character and craftsmanship.The lads walked us through their whisky-making ethos, from using heritage barley and old-school yeast strains, to how they push their tiny stills to get the character they’re after.Then it was a short stroll through the town to visit their bonded warehouse, where they store, bottle, and label both their independent releases under Thompson Bros and their own Dornoch Distillery whisky.We also got a sneak peek into their exciting new project—Mystery Distillery—and we’re already buzzing for what’s to come.After a quick browse in their bottle shop, we made our way to the site of their next big venture: the future home of the Struie Distillery. Phill and Simon shared the vision behind the build and how whisky fans can get involved through their crowdfunding campaign.And of course, we wrapped it all up back at the Dornoch Castle bar, enjoying some cracking whiskies... and some seriously questionable opinions about how to eat French pastries.Another brilliant episode full of whisky, scotch whisky, whisky history, and a look into the future Highland whisky.Enjoy

We hit the road for a true Highland whisky adventure as the Whisky Stories Grand Tour to Dornoch begins!Leaving Edinburgh bright and early at 7am, we jumped in the Whisky Wagon and headed north. After a quick stop at Tomatin Distillery (more on that in a future episode!), we made our way to Dornoch to meet the brilliant Phill and Simon Thompson—aka the Thompson Bros.Phill and Simon welcomed us with open arms for the weekend and gave us the full story behind their incredible journey—from bottling 1930s-era whisky on their parents’ kitchen table, to launching their own line of independent bottlings, building the tiny but mighty Dornoch Distillery, and now planning their bold next step: the brand-new Struie Distillery.We stayed at the beautiful Dornoch Castle, enjoyed a cracking evening in the cellar with the lads, and were treated to some amazing whiskies and proper Highland hospitality.This is just Episode 1 of our Dornoch adventure—stay tuned for Part 2 next week, and trust us, you won't want to miss it.Enjoy! 🥃🏰🔥

This week, we welcomed back Justine Hazlehurst, co-founder and organiser of the Fife Whisky Festival, to talk about the success of this year’s festival, which took place over three whisky-filled days in March.Our conversation sparked an interesting debate—should Fife become its own independent whisky region in Scotland? With the growing number of Fife whisky distilleries and the success of the Fife Whisky Festival, the idea is certainly worth exploring!But Justine wasn’t just here to talk about the festival—she’s also just written and published a whisky book, and it’s one that dives deep into one of the most infamous events in Scotch Whisky history: The Pattison Crash of the 1890s.The Pattison Brothers have made frequent appearances on the podcast, but Justine has uncovered the full, fascinating story in her new book, Opening the Case: Opening The Case: The Affairs of Pattisons' Whisky.Their shady accounting practices, lavish spending, and African Grey parrots trained to advertise their whisky nearly brought Scotch Whisky to its knees.This episode is packed with whisky history, Fife Whisky, whisky scandals, and plenty of great chat.Enjoy! 🥃📖🔥Where to buy the book -

Hazel MacLeod was the third episode that we recorded back when we were just getting started. At that time, she was working for William Grant & Sons in Business Development.Now she works for Woven Whisky as their Whisky Specialist.Hazel is so much fun and a great laugh. We recorded this episode in the Whisky Bunker underneath the Athletic Arms and heard all about the cool and exciting things Woven are doing.The Highball competition sounds like a lot of fun and we would be desperate to get involved in sampling some of the highballs made by the 10 bars taking part in the competition.We also got a chance to try the new 'spirit' coffee and whisky blend Woven have done in collaboration with Project Coffee.This episode was a great laugh, full of some good chat and whisky.N6YhL0ArlOwGfDtl7LO1

What a night we had recording this episode! Iain Forteath and Cameron McPherson had been delivering a training tasting night at the Athletic Arms for the staff so we were able to get a great chat with them after. And what a chat it was. Iain and Cameron both talked us through their careers and journey's in whisky.From becoming the youngest Master Blender in whisky at the time, Iain has always had a knack of tasting whisky and talks us through his processes when it comes to identifying flavour. Cameron has followed the traditional path we have seen with so many guests having started at the Scotch Whisky Experience and forging his own pathway in the Whisky Industry as BA with Angus Dundee Distillers. This was a lot of fun to record and there were some great Glencadam and Tomintoul drams on offer while we recorded. Enjoy