Cask to Glass

“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.

Back in Series 1 Episode 5, Martin McAdam of Ardgowan Distillery joked that “the best thing you can do with whisky is put it in a cask, put it in a warehouse and never sell it because it’s increasing in value all the time.”

“The longer you can hold onto your whisky,” he told us, “the more valuable it becomes.”

On that premise you’d think that whisky is a sure-fire investment.

Well yes… and no…

As we’ve discussed on several occasions with our good friend Max McFarlane, former Master Blender at Edrington and now himself with Ardgowan, there are a lot of pitfalls when it comes to investing in whisky casks.

Primarily, Max says, because there are a lot of con-artists out there.

It’s an issue that’s been getting a lot of media attention over the last year or so. Most notably in the BBC’s TV documentary and podcast series Hunting the Whisky Bandits by Sam Poling.

Well a week ago, former Scotland and British & Irish Lions rugby international Ryan Grant, who now runs The Caledonian Cask Partnership, posted on LinkedIn that “the whisky cask world has a bit of a problem. It’s unregulated, and there’s a lot of misinformation”.

And he promised to share in coming posts what he’d learnt about:

Buying casks safely
What’s genuinely good value (and what isn’t)
Why honesty still matters in business

We couldn’t wait for his posts.

So, John caught up with Ryan again. (You may remember Ryan and Max McFarlane were part of our oh so impartial Seven Nations Whisky judging panel in Series 1 Episode 21 ahead of the Lions tour to Australia.)

Ultimately, Ryan says, every cask has to end up in a glass.

“Ninety nine percent of people that buy whisky for an investment will need to sell it back to the trade to get their money back because there comes a point where it has to go into a bottle.”

It may sound obvious, but Ryan says: “I see some stuff from companies that email out and they’ll say this cask will be X price and then in 10 years it will be X price. And I find that that’s quite inflated a lot of the time.

“A basic rule of thumb is that if that whisky at 10 years old on the shelf retails for £50, but the value of your cask works out at £70 a bottle, then it’s not a good investment.”

So do your due diligence; do your sums: “If it doesn’t translate from wood to into glass pricewise then it’s not going to happen.”

If in doubt, ask, he says.

Speak to people in the trade: producers or bottlers, “as opposed to someone who’s in a whisky investment company”.

“The whisky industry is so welcoming and everyone’s very friendly,” Ryan continues. “No-one’s going to shy you away from asking a question, ‘Look I’m about to do this. Do you think it’s a good idea?’”

Tune in to this week’s episode find out what Ryan’s red flags are when it comes to investing in whisky casks; what he thinks of the state current state of the whisky industry; and why he finds whisky so alluring.

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.

Word of Richie Gray’s First Fifteen has been getting around, “to the point where,” the Scottish rugby and American football coach says, “I never even thought to myself you’d be getting the calls you’ve been getting over the last two or three weeks.”

And Richie’s had his share of high impact phone calls. The Springboks in 2014. The Miami Dolphins in 2016. Fiji in 2020. And the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.

He’s the Collision King. A training innovator and coaching entrepreneur whose contact and collision methodologies and training aids are used across world rugby and the NFL. 24 out of 32 NFL teams use his system.

But it’s his passion for whisky now prompting the phone calls. And it’s putting pressure on him to make “some big decisions” this year.

“When’s it going to auction?” his callers are asking. “When’s it going to auction?”

It is a wooden cabinet with inlaid brass linking rugby and whisky, an idea that came to Richie as he and some rugby friends were sitting round the barbecue in France having glass of wine.

“I said,” Richie explains, “You know what? You need to finish with a malt. I’m a Scotsman. A proud Scotsman. Malt whisky has been part of your life. Your old rugby committee men would have a whisky. You were brought up on whisky. Sometimes you had whisky at half-time.

“So I said, I want to create the most collectible rugby malt piece on the planet. And we’re all rolling about laughing and they were all like: ‘What are you gonna do?’

“And it started. It started.”

Richie teamed up with Anthony Wills from Kilchoman Distillery on Islay (featured in Season 1 Episode 8 of Cask to Glass in March 2025).

Now Richie’s never been to Islay.

But he learnt that Anthony’s farm-to-bottle distillery had a sign in one of the fields saying Rugby Park Field, so called Anthony told him, because “that’s where the first ever game of rugby took place on Islay. It was given by the farmer to the rugby club to start their journey as a rugby team.”

Together they came up with Kilchoman RugbyField Malt, a limited-edition 9 year old single cask malt. Just 245 bottles released in 2022.

“And this is like the punch,” Richie says. “I said: ‘I’m willing to do all the work for this and set it up and whatever, but I would like the first 15 bottles, because I’m going to do something with them eventually when I’ve got the time.”

“One thing led to another,” Richie continues. “And on the day we released it, the Wills family from Kilchoman sent me down the first 15. So it sat and it sat there for the last three years, until maybe mid 2025 and I then I thought: ‘Right. Here we go.

“I’d always had this idea in my head,” Richie tells John. “I wanted to create a phenomenal Scottish oak cabinet.

“I wanted Glencairn glasses at the top. I wanted 15 bottles in there, like a team sheet in some ways.

“And I wanted it all done in Scottish Gaelic, you know. A’ Chiad 15.

“The 1st 15.

“And then, I can’t say it in Gaelic, but it’s ‘Where the spirits of the legends come to play.’ Because I always like the Field of Dreams film.”

And just like the movie says: “If you build it, he will come…”

Word’s got out. And Richie’s phone won’t stop ringing.

“The world of malt whisky must bloody move quickly,” he chuckles.

Will he auction it? And how much is it worth?

Richie’s coy on both those counts. But he admit, “The whole thing’s insured for a six-figure sum. And it’s had to be insured for that. And it’s not a low six-figure sum just because we couldn’t come up with a price because you just don’t know…”

Tune in to catch the full story.

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.

The quickest way to get to Dunnet Bay Distillery by road from almost anywhere in Scotland is to take the A9 north about as far as it can go.

Just before Thurso, hang a right east bound onto the A836, follow the road and you can't go wrong. The disitillery's housed in a rennovated 19th century mill built out of Caithness stone - the same stone that was used to refurbish Boston Harbour on the other side of the Atlantic.

But beware.

If you miss the distillery, you'll quickly find yourself heading south again, almost the way you came.

That's because Dunnet Bay is almost as far north as you can get on mainland Britain. Just a little bit past the distillery, there's a left turn that will take you to Dunnet Head the real northernmost part of Britain.

The disitillery is the brainchild of Martin and Claire Murray, Caithness locals who, after years away in Aberdeen, the south of France and west Africa, had a "real yearning to come home."

Martin was an engineer who'd worked for Total and BP in the oil and gas industry. But that yearning for home kept calling. "So," Martin says, "whilst I was working with BP, we set up a gin distillery. The goal at the time back then was to get enough money to pay our bills so that we could move home and bring our kids up in an area that we were brought up and that we loved.

"So really our goal was to create two jobs. One for me. And one for my wife Claire."

That was back in 2013. Though the dream had begun in 2008 when Martin looked at buying the old Castletown Mill, built in 1818, and turning it into a whisky distillery.

"But I couldn't do it," he says. "We were the classic case of no experience, no qualifications, and not enough money."

Six years later the Murrays launched Rock Rose Gin which Martin says, "just flew out the door. We sold our first year's production in 12 weeks. And we were up to 110,000 bottles within five years.

"Then we got the option in 2020 to buy an old mill, the mill I talked about in 2008. And at that point we had the skills, experience and qualifications to do it. So we took it on.

"I had an agreement with Claire, where at any point during the project she asked me to walk away, I would. We decided that we would just take it by milestones. So the agreement was, okay, let's try and get planning permission and walk away at that point. We can walk away with our heads held high because we've done something that nobody else has done before.

"Then it was, can we get a building mooring [ie special permission from the Crown Estate in Scotland]? And then can we get the site structure and services in place? So we did that. We went through all the milestones and then the last one was: do we want to build it?

"And that was actually the easiest one because we'd done all the other milestones. And we started on site with the main project in January [2024]. And we've taken a 200 year old mill that was totally knackered and now we've opened a restaurant a month ago [November 2025]. We've opened our shop. And it's quite incredible. You know it's just an awesome place to come back to life."

But whisky's a long term venture and Martin and Claire are just starting out on their next milestone.

It will be called Stannergill Whisky, from the old Norse for "stone valley."

It's a long way off yet. But the last mile is always the farthest.

Join Martin as he tells John about his milestones along the road to whisky production. They've taken him from oil to gin to vodka to rum and a restaurant.

So here's to Martin and Claire Murray's Caithness spirit...

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.

What if there was Skyscanner for whisky and distillery tours? A one-stop-shop where you could find, compare and book your next whisky or other alcohol tourism experience?

That's the concept behind Sip Seekers, the brain child of Victoria Miller, aka Scottish Whisky Girl on Instagram.

"I was up north probably nearly two years ago now," Victoria explains, "and I was sat at breakfast and I thought: 'I want to see a distillery today.' And I started loading different tabs on my phone for different tours even at the same distillery, assessing different kind of tour options; whether I wanted to do the VIP one or the normal...

"And I realised that we're definitely overcomplicating that search process and that booking process. And I thought if it could all be pulled together on one kind of search platform, it would be much more simple and likely get far more bookings fo the distilleries And so many brands and distilleries have invested a lot in their visitor centres and then they were not actually reaching.

"So I was actually horrified to learn 79 percent of overnight visitors don't make it to a distillery tour when they visit Scotland. So my kind of goal is to allow people to come on the platform. They can search by availability, location, rating. We're adding kind of accessibility, child-friendly tours and assess the best options for them."

Sip Seekers launched in the beginning of December and Victoria has signed up 50 distilleries and other alcohol tourism experiences including three distilleries previously featured on Cask to Glass: Raasay, Nc'Nean and Lindores.

Her target customers are those 79 percent of overnight visitors who don't visit a distillery during their visit, and locals - "people who are based in Scotland, who when it's on their doorstep, don't take advantage."

"We want to raise awareness to those people," Victoria continues, "and get them visiting and engaging with distilleries, because the real advantage - and there's talk at the moment of tough times in the industry and things - the real advantage of getting people into distilleries is, you know, they engage with brands and they learn abou the stories and they then go home and tell their friends as well, and often buy a bottle."

Victoria really got into whisky in 2014 when her father Paul, the founder of Eden Mill Distillery near St Andrews in Fife, took the team to Islay. It was her first serious whisky tasting experience and fuelled a love of peaty whiskies.

So what distilleries does Victoria believe are must visit before the summer of 2026?

Raasay!

It's on her bucket list. "I'm ashamed to say I've not been to Raasay and I need to go over. It looks absolutely stunning and it's on our platform. So I'll need to get over there and hopefully on a night that they've got space."

Other distilleries?

In Edinburgh there's Holyrood Distillery and Summerhall "that does Pickering's gin". In Glasgow there's Clydeside. "And then if you want to do a wee road trip, you've got Galloway Distillery, Sam Heughan's new distillery."

And what whisky should you try before the summer?

Ledaig... "It's got a kind of lighter peat; grassier notes. But I had that in a port finish, which was really interesting because you've got that kind of soft peat notes and then you've also got the kind of juicy port finish. And I think it's good for this time of year, for the kind of colder winter night."

So pour yourself a dram and tune in.

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.