Cask to Glass

“There’s no scientific reason that a blend should be inferior to a single malt,” insists Alasdair Stevenson of blending house Turntable Spirits. “In ways you could argue the opposite in terms of flexibility and the creative opportunities that blending gives you. It’s really all down to the strategy of the blender.”

Go back 150 years or so to when blending started, Ally argues, and “it was about consistency, quality and flavour combination.”

“I mean, if you take it into the world of wine or cooking, you would think about combining different components, different ingredients, different elements in some way to try and create something that is more than any one of the components.”

That’s why Ally says he and his brother Gordon started Turntable: “To change the way people think about blended whisky. The idea was to turn the table, flip the record, do something different.”

“We both grew up in the world of whisky in some way,” Ally explains. “Our dad Graham, he worked in the industry for 30 years or so. So it was always in us to an extent, and we both joined the industry quite young.”

Out of uni Ally joined BenRiach Distillery, which was then owned by legendary Master Blender Billy Walker and two South African partners.

Billy, he says, “was a great mentor; great person to learn from.” And when Billy sold BenRiach and acquired GlenAllachie from Pernod Ricard, Ally went with him.

“I worked with Billy on the wood management and getting a better understanding of the blending and the strategy on that side of things. But,” he continues, Gordon and I, we’d always wanted to work together… wanted to start our own journey.

“We both had this shared frustration in some ways that all around the whisky world it felt like people had this perception of blends being inferior in quality to single malt. Obviously we didn’t agree.

“So we almost thought when we were starting Turntable, can we try to combine how we see the best of the two categories? Can we go to the original idea of a blending house and the opportunity for creativity, for flavour combination but then combine that with the care to detail that you would usually find in the single malt category today?

“Basically everything we do is small batch blended whisky, natural colour, unchilled filtered, at least 46%. And we try to really differentiate ourselves by focusing on transparency as well. So really drilling into the breakdown as to what is going into the blends, what percentage, what distillery, what cast type.”

Turntable was launched in 2023. But the Stevensons had been acquiring casks from across Scotland since 2019.

Today they own about 1,300 casks “that could be anything from new make spirit through until 40 years old”.

Join John as he and Ally celebrate "the beauty of the blend"; and learn how the Stevenson brothers are collaborating with “New World” distillers like Starward in Australia to produce international blended whiskies in Germany.

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

Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you take your oysters?

Yes oysters.

Straight up? A splash of Tabasco? Or a couple of drops of whisky?

Yes. Whisky!

“I’d always have oysters with whisky rather than Tabasco,” Scottish food writer, broadcaster and 2022 UK MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin tells John Beattie in this the 50th episode of Cask to Glass.

“I love oysters and Cumbrae oysters are the best oysters there are,” she says. “A couple of drops of Tabasco brings out the sweetness, kind of opens up your tastebuds.”

But Sarah continues, “Switch out the Tabasco for two or three drops of Laphroaig 10, because that’s got that lovely seaweed back note. It’s got a little bit of oiliness because they are quite rich, and your mind will be blown with that instead of Tabasco.

“I would always have them now with whisky rather than with Tabasco. That would be my choice… It works so well with the briny, sort of slightly medicinal hit that you get from it with the liquor that’s, you know, from the oyster.

“It’s knockout!”

Yes. We agree! It’s knockout.

And full disclosure, this episode had us salivating from start to finish. Sarah even had John waxing lyrical about seasonal Scottish Brussel sprouts by the end.

You could say he was eating out of her hand.

After pairing whisky and cheese in Episode 48 with Paul Bock and David Reid, what better way to celebrate the heritage and flavour of Scotland’s national drink and the world’s favourite spirit than pairing it with Scotland’s great cuisine.

And who better than Sarah, author of two great Scottish cookbooks: Kith: Scottish Seasonal Food for Family and Friends (Birlinn, 2024) and Feast: Recipes that Bring Joy (Birlinn, 2025)?

“Whisky has actually always been one of my things, long before it was legal for it to be one of my things,” Sarah confesses. “It was my teenage tipple of choice.”

It soon became Sarah’s USP.

“When I was quite young,” she continues, “I worked as a tour guide, and I used to take tour groups all around Scotland. And I realised quite early on that I was considerably younger than everyone else. So I needed to have something that made me a little bit different.

“So, I thought, well, I know a wee bit about whisky…”

And that was Sarah’s entre into whisky and food.

Today, post-MasterChef, Sarah Rankin is one of Scotland’s best-known foodies and a regular contributor on food and cooking for the BBC.

So tune in as Sarah takes John on a culinary journey that pairs whisky with Scotland’s finest produce, from venison and salmon to chocolate and ice cream.

Whether you’re cooking with whisky or matching it with dishes, there’s plenty to learn.

So raise a glass to great whisky and great food…

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

Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“My palate has seen a lot of action,” confesses Fraser Campbell, whisky educator, brand consultant, drinks strategist. “I started off working in pubs in Speyside when I was 18. And that was pretty much it.”

Twenty seven years later Fraser is now the host and creator of Whisky Bytes, producing “snackable knowledge whisky videos”. His latest venture is One for the Road, a luxury chauffeur-driven tour and whisky tasting service, which launched earlier this year.

But as an 18-year-old pouring drams in a local pub in Forres in north east Scotland, Fraser says he learnt “the hard way not to pour water for the customer.”

“The first time I poured a whisky for someone, I added their water and drowned it and I had to duck.”

Despite an inauspicious start, Fraser “stuck with bars” as he puts he.

After five years in Australia, where “I fell back in love with Scottish whisky”, and two to three years in Spain, Fraser was offered a job as the global ambassador for Dewar’s Blended Scotch.

Whisky wasn’t on his horizon, but he explains, “When someone says to you, ‘Would you like to travel the world and talk about whisky for a living?’, well it takes you about ten seconds to make your mind up.”

“The thing that really drew me to Dewar’s was the story of Tommy Dewar, who was the son of the original founder John Dewar, who had the shop in Perth back in 1846. And Tommy was a pioneer in advertising, marketing, and kind of the first brand marketer in a lot of ways.

“He invented the first ever advert for a brand, just a few years after a cinematography was invented. There was a black and white movie based on an advert, which was a painting of these three ghosts coming out of a painting to grab a bottle of Dewar’s.

“So they turned that into a live action advert. So he was well ahead of his time. So that's kind of really what landed it for me.”

“I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit with a lot of things as well,” Fraser continues. “And I think the chance with Dewar’s came at a time when the brand was going through a lot of changes, going from what was perceived as an old man's blended Scotch whisky to a more progressive whisky for younger audiences.

“So it wasn't just the whisky, it was the idea to come in and be part of a change or a pivotal change in that history of that brand,” he concludes.

Join John as he discovers how Fraser went from rookie teenager to whisky polymath.

Listen in as they discuss whisky and regionality. (“It’s bonkers,” Fraser tells John, to suggest that “one massive 10,000 square mile region could produce one style and flavour” of whisky.)

Find out how the colour of whisky packaging can affect our perception of a whisky and how it will taste.

And enjoy a rambling conversation that wanders where it wants, reviving memories of scenic beauty and recalling experiences that can never be repeated.

After all Fraser says, "Whisky is a lot like music and a lot like food. It's about the occasion and who you're with and what you're doing."

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

Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whisky and cheese?

It’s a simple question really: Do they pair well together?

Does a Gorgonzola go well with a smoky Bowmore? Or is it better with a sherry-flavoured Speyside? Say a Glenfarclas or a Tamdhu?

And what should you have with Gruyère?

Since lockdown, photographer Paul Bock and a brand marketer David Reid have been holding regular whisky and cheese soirees at Paul’s studio in Edinburgh.

Up to 70 guests at times. Some are in the industry. Some are just friends. And some don’t even like whisky.

“We invite people to come along, bring a bottle and bring a cheese,” David explains. “All the whisky goes on one table, and all the cheese goes on another.

“We don’t stipulate what kind of whisky it should be. It can be anything, but we try to get people to bring things that are a bit unusual.”

So nothing you’d find in major supermarket.

And then, once “you’ve put your bottle down, you’ve put your cheese down,” David continues, “it’s just a bit of a free for all.”

“It’s really about friendship and meeting new people, and I guess just experimenting and finding out, you know, does gorgonzola go with a Bowmore or does a hard salty cheese go better with a lighter fruitier whisky?

“It’s about people just finding out what works for them and chatting with each other and finding out what others think.”

“We’ve had whiskies,” Paul picks up, “from all over the world. Obviously Japan, Wales. We had some English whiskies recently. And Irish… quite a lot of Irish.”

“We’ve got a very committed attendee,” David adds, “who’s passionate about whisky and she’s also passionate about her home country which is Romania. So she’s now brought two different types of Romanian whisky which is, I must say, excellent.

“It’s called Carpathian Single Malt. And that goes beautifully with, I can’t remember exactly which cheese it goes best with, but I think it was maybe Brie.”

“It wouldn’t have occurred to many people to have cheese [with whisky],” Paul admits. “It’s often chocolate people think of with whisky. But people think, ‘Actually, let’s give it a go.’ And they’re often pleasantly surprised how well it does go.”

Join John as he explores what whiskies go with what cheeses.

Find out if they contrast or complement each other.

And pick up a few pointers from Paul and David, who, by their own admission, aren’t whisky or cheese experts, but who love the subtle combinations of taste and texture which only whisky and cheese can bring out.

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

Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We’re going through a period of short-term volatility,” admits Mark Kent, CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association.

“Volatility which,” he says, “is partly to do with international trade conditions; partly to do with the domestic situation we find ourselves in.

“And you’ll know that we’ve had 17 percent duty increases; increases in energy costs, general costs of doing business at home, which is really acting as a brake on the industry.

“And then we’ve got tariffs and the US.”

A week ago HMRC, the UK’s tax agency, published the UK’s export statistics for 2025, including whisky which is the UK’s biggest food and drink export product.

“What these figures show,” Mark continues, “is we’re just under one percent down in terms of value across the world last year. And in terms of volume, we’re just over four percent down.”

That doesn’t sound too bad…

But, Mark cautions, “the big thing which sticks out is that since tariffs came into forces in the US, we’re 15 percent down in terms of volume that shipped to the US.”

Things may not have “fallen off a cliff”, as Mark puts it. “But at the moment,” he acknowledges, “we’re going through very choppy seas.”

“You just have to read the papers to see news about job losses, cutbacks in production, maltings which are closing. This is real stuff and this is affecting the Scottish economy and rural communities in particular.

“When I go and meet with farmers, they say: ‘What’s happening with India? What’s happening with the US? Because we’re getting less orders through for the malting barley…’ for example.

“And then you look right through the production chain to the hospitality industry. Hospitality is being hit. Tourism is being hit.”

So what does Mark make of report in the Scotsman newspaper that “almost one in five of all Scotland’s distilleries is in financial distress”?

“I read that; and I can quite believe that anecdotally, because when we speak to our members, they are very concerned and there are real issues.”

And these issues – or “headwinds” as Mark describes them – impact the entire supply chain.

Join John as he explores the state of the Scotch whisky industry with the man at the helm of its trade association.

Find out who’s most at risk.

Discover what Government interventions Mark believes will most help the sector.

And find out why, despite all his concerns, Mark is "still very confident about the long-term potential of the industry."

“I was having a discussion with somebody,” Mark concludes, “and I said, ‘I’m not an optimist. I’m not a pessimist. I’m a realist. And think that’s what we have to be. And we have to say things they are.

“I go back to how we started this. Long term, the potential is still there. We’ve got a great industry. It’s not going to go away. We’re going to see markets continue to grow.

“What we have to do is ensure that we have the support necessary to get to that longer term potential.”

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

Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.