Scotch Talk

One can live ON a landscape or live IN a landscape. The role of the whisky maker is to bring out TERROIR. This concept of Anam an fhearainn - Soul of the Land - Terroir, reflects and contains a pride and a tradition. It is a way of living. Whisky is made as part of...

IN MY MOUTH I HOLD THE WORLD Gazing into my glass swimming with clear, warm, liquid gold, I imagine standing on the highest diving board and looking down - the distances are comparable. Eye to glass; body to water. I dive; down, down, air streaming passed my...

We distil spirit that is clear. When it is filled into the cask the spirit looks like water - uisge beatha - water of life.  It is during its time in maturation inside the cask that spirit develops its colour. Spirit develops colour from 3 things - the actual wood...

The stages involved in whisky making are numerous. Here is a schematic highlighting eight of them. MALTING, KILNING, MILLING, MASHING, FERMENTATION, DISTILLATION, MATURATION and our favourite one.... LIBATION! Each stage of whisky making is intrinsic to the whole....

Why Oak? Oak is one of the  hardest and most durable timbers. It's Latin name, Quercus robur, means strength - think "robust". Oak grows from the outside in - a new ring grows around the trunk of the tree, just under the bark, and is called the cambium layer or the...

Steeping of barley is very important in the germination process. If the endosperm tissue is not properly hydrated it won't modify well. Various parts of the grain uptake moisure at different rates. The barley grain is made up of endosperm, germ, root and shoot, husk...