Not Another Whisky Podcast

Mitch heads to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Queen Street Members’ Room in Edinburgh to sit down with Calum Lawson, SMWS Member Experience Manager and co-host of the Society’s Whisky Talk podcast.

Calum’s route into whisky wasn’t exactly mapped out from the beginning. From years in Glasgow hospitality and running a bar and restaurant, he moved into the Society as manager of the Bath Street Members’ Room, spent time on the whisky buying team, and now finds himself helping shape everything from member experiences and international tastings to podcasts and new releases.

We get into the wonderfully terrifying world of blind tasting and SMWS’s new Caskmaster competition: eight mystery drams, nine possible answers and absolutely nowhere to hide. Mitch recalls Charlie MacLean’s advice never to blind taste Scotch whisky, while Calum explains why the Society decided to ignore that advice entirely.
There’s also plenty of Society chat: how those mysterious distillery numbers work, how single casks are selected, why ridiculous bottle names such as “Beware of the Lurking Gherkin” are part of the fun, and what actually goes into creating memorable whisky experiences for members around the world.
But there’s also a bit of news.

CopperCairn and The Scotch Malt Whisky Society are teaming up for a Speyside adventure from 12–15 March 2027, bringing Society members north for a few days of behind-the-scenes distillery access, whisky dinners, tastings, blending sessions and a few distinctly CopperCairn additions along the way.
There is even talk of a dip in the River Spey. Speedos remain optional. Probably.
And there’s another twist: the 2026 Caskmaster Champion will win a place on the CopperCairn Speyside trip, making the stakes in the Society’s blind tasting championship considerably higher than bragging rights over your mates.

Caskmaster 2026
The Caskmaster Grand Final takes place at The Vaults in Leith on 12 November 2026.
The overall champion receives lifetime membership of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society as well as a place on the CopperCairn Speyside adventure from 12–15 March 2027.

Find out more
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society: smws.com
SMWS Whisky Talk: www.smws.com/podcast
CopperCairn: coppercairn.com
Hosted by Mitch Bechard and Daz Haldane, this is where the whisky world gets pulled apart properly, with stories, insights, and the occasional bit of chaos along the way.

🥃 New episodes every week(ish)
🎤 Live shows & tastings across Scotland
🎟️ Web: www.notanotherwhiskypodcast.com
📩 Enquiries & partnerships: whiskypodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on Instagram
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-another-whisky-podcast.
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This week we welcome whisky maker, consultant and long-time friend of the podcast Brendan McCarron back to Not Another Whisky Podcast.
And this time, we’re talking yeast.

It might not sound like the sexiest part of whisky making, but the deeper you go, the more fascinating it gets.

We chat about how yeast was viewed when Brendan first started making whisky at Diageo, whether Scotch became a little too focused on yield and consistency, and why distillers are now starting to look at yeast as a genuine tool for creating flavour.

From Glenmorangie and Holyrood to InchDairnie, Loch Lomond, The Lakes and what American whiskey producers have been doing for decades, we get into different strains, longer fermentations, wild yeast, wine yeast and just how much influence the little buggers can actually have.
We also talk about Brendan’s work with new distilleries, how the conversation around yeast has changed during his career, working alongside Dr Bill Lumsden, and whether Scotch whisky has been a little bit behind the curve.

It gets geeky.

But in a good way.

Welcome to The Yeastie Boys.
Hosted by Mitch Bechard and Daz Haldane, this is where the whisky world gets pulled apart properly, with stories, insights, and the occasional bit of chaos along the way.

🥃 New episodes every week(ish)
🎤 Live shows & tastings across Scotland
🎟️ Web: www.notanotherwhiskypodcast.com
📩 Enquiries & partnerships: whiskypodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on Instagram
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-another-whisky-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mitch and Daz are back together for a long-overdue August catch-up, recorded from the glamour of Daz’s self-proclaimed “bitchin’ kitchen.”
They compare notes on what they’ve been up to, the whisky they’ve been drinking and the general chaos of a busy summer before diving into some of the more unusual stories from around the whisky world.

There’s the retired farmer storing a £750,000 whisky collection in converted pigsties, Woven and Civerinos combining whisky, Scottish honey and a fairly aggressive collection of chillies, and the arrival of the new Stannergill Distillery in Caithness.
Mitch also shares his experience at The Macallan’s Coconut Dreams pop-up beside the Spey, including the slightly surreal sight of Macallan being poured into a blender to make piña coladas.

The pair also discuss the new signature single malt from the Isle of Harris and whether whisky drinkers occasionally need to become a little less precious about how their drams are enjoyed.

Later in the episode, Mitch catches up with Victoria Miller, founder of Sip Seekers, to hear about the platform she has created to make discovering and booking Scotland’s distilleries, tastings and drinks experiences considerably easier.

Expect whisky news, old drams, questionable kitchens, expensive pigsties and the usual amount of informed nonsense.

Links to news and Sip Seekers

£750k Pigsty Whisky Collection – The Whiskey Wash
Woven x Civerinos Hot Honey
The Macallan – Inspired by Fresh Coconut
Stannergill Distillery Starts Production – The Spirits Business
The Isle of Harris Single Malt Whisky
Sip Seekers
Not Another Whisky Podcast on Acast


Hosted by Mitch Bechard and Daz Haldane, this is where the whisky world gets pulled apart properly, with stories, insights, and the occasional bit of chaos along the way.

🥃 New episodes every week(ish)
🎤 Live shows & tastings across Scotland
🎟️ Web: www.notanotherwhiskypodcast.com
📩 Enquiries & partnerships: whiskypodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on Instagram
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-another-whisky-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a wee bit different.

Earlier this year, Mitch met Graeme and Angus from Whisky Stories and the idea was simple: get both podcasts in the same room, pour a few drams, and record something together.

That idea quickly grew into a live event, a charity night, and a raffle that raised an incredible £1,400 for The BEN, supporting people across the hospitality and licensed trade.

Recorded live at Uno Mas, this episode sees Not Another Whisky Podcast go head to head with Whisky Stories, with the brilliant Mark Thompson trying his best to keep everyone in line.

Expect drams, audience votes, questionable tactics, brilliant whisky chat, and a few strong opinions along the way.

We get into favourite distillery visits, cask finishes, whisky bars, and the kind of stories that only come out when you put whisky people in front of a live audience.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated bottles, prizes, minis and support for the raffle, and to Sian at Uno Mas for letting us use the venue.
Pour yourself something good and enjoy a proper live whisky night with NAWP and Whisky Stories.
Hosted by Mitch Bechard and Daz Haldane, this is where the whisky world gets pulled apart properly, with stories, insights, and the occasional bit of chaos along the way.

🥃 New episodes every week(ish)
🎤 Live shows & tastings across Scotland
🎟️ Web: www.notanotherwhiskypodcast.com
📩 Enquiries & partnerships: whiskypodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on Instagram
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-another-whisky-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daz is flying solo this week as he sits down with Highland Park’s Martin Markvardsen on the eve of his twentieth anniversary as the distillery’s brand ambassador.

Martin takes us back to his early days managing the legendary Quaich Bar at the Craigellachie Hotel, where 784 whiskies, industry characters and the occasional lock in provided a fairly thorough education. He explains how repeatedly including Highland Park 18 in his tastings eventually led to a phone call offering him the ambassador’s job.

They look back at what whisky ambassadorship involved in 2006, from lengthy technical masterclasses and enormous whisky festivals to the characters who shaped the industry, including Jim McEwan, Charlie MacLean, Dave Broom, Ronnie Cox, Ian Miller and Ian Logan.

Martin and Daz also discuss how the role has changed. Today’s ambassadors need to understand social media, online tastings, cocktails and content creation alongside the traditional production knowledge and storytelling. There are tales of sideways Zoom tastings, Facebook mistaking Martin’s Highland Park tattoo for pornography and Daz missing his own masterclass after a particularly enthusiastic night aboard the Viking Line.

Finally, they attempt to choose their greatest Highland Park releases of all time, covering bottles including Leif Eriksson, the 1977 Bicentenary, Hjarta, the original 50 Year Old, Dark Origins and the ever dependable Highland Park 18.

A relaxed and wonderfully nostalgic conversation about two decades with one distillery, the people who make whisky special and why Martin still has no plans to slow down.
Hosted by Mitch Bechard and Daz Haldane, this is where the whisky world gets pulled apart properly, with stories, insights, and the occasional bit of chaos along the way.

🥃 New episodes every week(ish)
🎤 Live shows & tastings across Scotland
🎟️ Web: www.notanotherwhiskypodcast.com
📩 Enquiries & partnerships: whiskypodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on Instagram
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-another-whisky-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.