Not Another Whisky Podcast

This week, Not Another Whisky Podcast goes live from the Craigellachie Hotel for Battle of the Stills, recorded during the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
Daz is joined by three brilliant distillers: Euan Christie from The Cabrach Distillery, Polly Logan from Tormore, and Kristy Lark from Killara Distillery in Tasmania.

Euan shares the story of The Cabrach: an area with deep illicit distilling roots, a shrinking population, and a new community-led distillery using whisky to support local regeneration. He also introduces The Feering, The Cabrach’s first blended malt, created with donated casks from across the industry.

Polly takes us inside Tormore, one of Speyside’s most beautiful distilleries, as it prepares to launch its new core range. She talks about shaping the distillery’s fruity, floral style, the importance of American oak, and working with blender Oliver Chilton.

Kristy brings the Tasmanian perspective, from growing up with a still outside her bedroom door to founding Killara Distillery. She shares how Tasmania’s climate shapes maturation and introduces a wonderfully unusual whisky inspired by a Black Velvet cocktail, finished through sparkling wine and stout casks.

There are audience questions, festival chaos, whisky gossip, and at least one answer involving rum-infused Scottish tea that probably needs a legal disclaimer.

Featured Whiskies and links to where you can find them

The Cabrach – The Feering Early Harvest
A bright, bourbon-led blended malt with gentle peat and a strong community story.

Tormore – Timeless
Fruity, floral and elegant, showing orchard fruit, malt and honeysuckle notes.

Killara – Black Velvet Inspired Single Cask
A rich Tasmanian single cask involving tawny, sparkling wine, stout and glorious madness.

Please subscribe, rate and review Not Another Whisky Podcast wherever you listen. Slàinte!
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 catch up after a packed festival season, They recap Spirit of Speyside’s, Mitch’s chaotic-but-fun Tormore launch and plans to expand their sold-out “Battle of the Ambassadors” into a winter tournament, “The Road to Speyside,” with heats and a final at the festival.

Daz recounts Fèis Ìle highlights at Laphroaig’s 40th anniversary tastings and Bowmore events, including a boat trip on Loch Indal and a 1969 Bowmore dram.

They taste three whiskies: Chivas Charles Leclerc 16 (40%), Raasay Hungarian Oak (50%), and SMWS “A Belter for America” Tullibardine 10 (61%). They announce being shortlisted for the Scottish Podcast Awards, discuss Tormore’s new releases, the Bon Accord closing, Woven’s new Leith blending experience, and Glen Cairn’s leadership change, then tease upcoming episodes and a giveaway of a Ferrari cap plus whisky samples for reviews.

00:00 Whisky Stories Banter
00:48 New Theme Tune Debate
02:23 Show Intro and Catch Up
03:55 Festival Season Rundown
05:31 Tormore Launch Chaos
08:10 Road to Speyside Plan
12:24 Three Drams Lineup
13:51 Chivas x Leclerc Collab
17:52 Fèis Ìle Highlights
23:57 Feis vs Speyside Vibes
27:33 Raasay Island Escape
29:11 Hungarian Oak Tasting Notes
31:41 Warehouse Night Stories
32:53 Podcast Award Shortlist
34:35 Whisky World News Roundup
36:43 Edinburgh Whisky Experiences Boom
38:32 Glen Cairn Leadership Change
39:40 World Cup Whisky Bottling
44:28 Deep Dives and Cooper Traditions
46:57 Wrap Up and Listener Giveaway

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 take a deep dive into coopering — the ancient craft behind every great dram.

Recorded in Edinburgh over suspiciously large highballs, the episode traces the cask from Celtic barrel-makers and Roman trade routes to modern whisky maturation, wood policy, rejuvenation and the global cask trade.

Mitch speaks with Ian MacDonald, former head cooper at The Balvenie, who started his apprenticeship in 1969 and spent over 50 years in the trade. Ian shares stories of rebuilding bourbon barrels into hogsheads, working alongside David Stewart, being paid per cask, apprentice initiations, and why coopering is far more than “just hammering bits of wood together."

The episode also features Lawrence Proctor, manager of Camlachie Cooperage and president of the Coopering Federation, who explains the modern reality of running a cooperage: cask repair, rejuvenation, apprenticeships, bourbon barrel prices, industry slowdowns and why coopers are often the first to feel the pressure when whisky dips.

Featuring
Ian MacDonald — former Head Cooper at The Balvenie
Lawrence Proctor — Manager at Clydeside Cooperage and President of the Scottish Coopering Federation
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.

Daryl interviews Sarah Dowling, lead whisky maker at Laphroaig, tracing her path from a genetics and environmental background to a 2012 Edrington recycling contract that turned into a long whisky career via sensory panels, Diageo, and nearly seven years at Cooley in Ireland (working on Connemara and other releases, and even managing the site). She discusses how her palate evolved from missing vanilla to treating smoke as a “neutral,” and how collaborative tasting works best when nobody gets told what they “should” taste. Sarah explains the organic Willem Dafoe collaboration (the “Unforgettable” campaign), built from pilot blends, repeated tastings, and an Oloroso-driven 14-year whisky bottled at 53.7% with rich texture. For Fèis Ìle’s 40th anniversary, Laphroaig’s Càirdeas is fully matured in French oak, noted for Lapsang souchong-like smoke and melon notes, and Sarah previews interactive Laphroaig Day tastings, parties, and Friends of Laphroaig camaraderie.

00:00 Welcome Sarah Dowling
01:09 From Sustainability to Whisky
02:59 Discovering Sensory Panels
07:03 Finding Flavor Blind Spots
11:53 Irish Whiskey Calling
16:41 Life at Cooley Distillery
17:55 Full Time Blender Role
18:36 Willem Dafoe Collaboration
20:34 Building the Oloroso Blend
23:47 First Tastes and Bold Character
24:28 Bold New Release
25:07 Willem Gets It
26:17 On Set Inspiration
29:05 Friends And Festivals
30:40 French Oak Cairdeas
31:58 Tasting Notes Tea Smoke
35:51 Feis Ile Tastings
38:04 Friends Stories And Farewell

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.

Gordon Dundas brings out Tamdhu’s Dalbeallie Dram, ninth edition — a natural-colour, first-fill sherry powerhouse sitting at 60.5% ABV. It’s everything you’d hope for from Tamdhu in full sherry beast mode: fruitcake sweetness, dark spice, espresso bitterness and a finish that somehow drinks far too easily for its strength.

The panel get stuck into age statements, natural colour, value, pricing, and where the whisky market is heading after a few years of everyone releasing everything, everywhere, all at once.

Then Stuart Buchanan steps up with the final dram: a newly shelved Benriach 2009 15-year-old peated whisky at 61.1% ABV, matured in refill hogsheads before spending six years in PX. Stuart talks through Benriach’s peated history, how cask choice shapes phenols, and why everyone apparently needs to save the hogshead.

Along the way, the ambassadors talk favourite recent markets, from Japan and Turkey to Singapore and Australia, before looking ahead to what might be next for whisky: more highballs, more blends, more indie bottlers, and hopefully fewer releases that require remortgaging your house.

The episode finishes with distillery recommendations from around the world, thoughts on new distilleries finding their feet, concerns around the pace of Irish whiskey growth, and the all-important audience vote.

00:00 Next Dram Setup
00:22 Dalbeallie Origins
01:41 Sherry Bomb Breakdown
03:44 Tasting Notes Banter
04:29 Editions and Value Talk
05:28 Age Statements Debate
07:13 Whisky Market Correction
10:06 Secondary Market Trends
11:16 Final Dram Dedication
12:17 Introducing Benriach Peat
12:58 Peated Release Details
14:50 Cask Strategy and Hogsheads
17:09 PPM and Peat Science
19:23 First Impressions Wrap
19:29 Sherry Cask Debate
20:14 Speyside DNA Explained
21:10 Glenglassaugh Coastal Dram
22:11 Travel Highlights Quickfire
23:49 Whisky Trends Next Year
26:41 Distillery Picks Worldwide
33:32 New Distilleries Growing Pains
34:59 Irish Whiskey Boom Concerns
37:41 Global Whisky Wrap-Up
39:39 Audience Vote Results
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.