Comedian, BBC radio host, Scottish football expert, whisky and history geek, experiential ambassador at Glengoyne Distillery – you could call Gordon Dallas all of that and you wouldn’t be wrong with any of it. Gordon is a man of many talents and as you might have assumed already, that makes him a perfect guest to have on the podcast. Our hopes were high for this one, because, when do you ever have someone with a CV like that on the show? And Gordon did not disappoint one bit! This is an episode ...
Jun 11, 2025•50 min•Ep. 44
The sunniest day during Fèis Ìle (the Islay Whisky Festival)? Always Laddie Day! Why? No idea, but someone up there really seems to like the guys at Bruichladdich – and understandably so! The people, the hospitality, the whisky, the size of the drams in the warehouse – Bruichladdich Distillery is undeniably one of the most welcoming places on Islay. And their head distiller, Adam Hannett, is no exception. When he welcomed us for our podcast recording it felt like entering someone’s living room t...
May 11, 2025•57 min•Ep. 43
“People make Glasgow” – that’s the slogan the city of Glasgow selected to show that Glasgow is so much more than what you can see from the outside. And one could argue the same is true for Glasgow Distillery; a distillery totally different from many of those long-established ones you will find all over Scotland – a more modern one, aquite small one, maybe a more industrial one but with a wonderful charm because of so many people who love what they’re doing, who put their hearts into making their...
Apr 06, 2025•33 min•Ep. 42
Up there in Northern Ireland in the picturesque village of Bushmills and almost directly next to the Giant’s Causeway, you will find The Old Bushmills Distillery, the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery. And it is certainly no coincidence that the people up there often say that “without the village there would be no whiskey, and without the whiskey there would be no village”. Why that is the case, you might ask – and in steps Julie Dixon. Julie was introduced to us as “the good soul of Th...
Feb 23, 2025•48 min•Ep. 41
The “Barley to Bottle” tour at Springbank Distillery is probably one of the best experiences you can have when you’re passionate about whisky. It’s an extensive access-all-areas tour and tasting which culminates in having the chance to blend one’s very own bottle of Springbank in their blending lab. “Why are you telling us all of that?”, you might ask. Well, because it is just another thing that makes Springbank Springbank and truly special. Additionally, said blending lab was the place of recor...
Nov 25, 2024•45 min•Ep. 42
There are probably not too many places in Europe that one would label as “extremely un-get-at-able” – but that’s exactly how George Orwell once described the Isle of Jura when he spent several years there in the late 1940s to write his masterpiece and final work, 1984. During his time there, Orwell unfortunately did not have the pleasure to enjoy Jura whisky because the distillery fell silent in the early 1900s. It was not until the 1950s that it was rebuilt and expanded. The work was finally fi...
Sep 26, 2024•42 min•Ep. 40
Almost 20.000km from home – quite the distance to record a podcast in situ, don’t you think?! Well, we did it anyway… We travelled halfway around the globe to meet up with Matt Johns of Pōkeno Whisky in New Zealand to record this episode. Matt founded Pōkeno Distillery together with his wife Celine as a “passion project” just about an hour south auf Auckland in the small village of Pōkeno, to craft “one of the world’s greatest single malts”. Pōkeno is another one of those aspiring and innovative...
Aug 02, 2024•48 min•Ep. 39
Donald & Alexander Johnston, Ian Hunter, Bessie Williamson, Iain Henderson, John Campbell, Barry MacAffer – quite an illustrious round of people – and all of them special for Laphroaig in their very own way. And today’s episode is about Barry MacAffer, who has spent the best part of 13 years working at the distillery and who has now decided to leave Islay, Scotland, the UK and even Europe to start a totally new adventure in South Korea. We had the chance to talk to Barry right at the end of ...
Jul 14, 2024•51 min•Ep. 38
Today, the 7th of June 2024, marks the day that Rosebank finally opens its doors to visitors again and we got the chance to have a look behind the curtain shortly before the grand reopening of the distillery to talk to distillery manager Malcolm Rennie. Originally being founded in 1840, Rosebank had to endure a lot of agony up to this point in 2024 and we don’t know, yet, what the future holds for the distillery. But what we can say already with absolute certainty: Ian Macleod Distillers, the ow...
Jun 07, 2024•30 min•Ep. 37
Have you ever met Kenny Macdonald? No? Really?? Then here’s your chance! Kenny is the co-founder of independent bottler Dràm Mòr, which he founded together with his wife Viktorija. Since he claims himself that he is not the “brains” of the company – what does he bring to the table? Well, he’s a real showman and a great storyteller and an absolute joy to listen to – so quite naturally, we wanted to record a podcast episode with him. To be honest, we tried to do this recording several times but so...
May 20, 2024•42 min•Ep. 36
Indian Single Malt Whisky – sounds quite exotic at first sight – and probably it is to some extent. But it’s also so much more than that: It’s made with pride, it’s unique, it’s very flavourful, it’s delicious and there are so many things to be discovered about Indian whisky and also the country itself. For this episode, our journey through the world of whisky has brought us together with Madhu Kanna of Indri Single Malt Indian Whisky – unfortunately not in India this time, but maybe some time i...
Apr 30, 2024•37 min•Ep. 35
MCDXCIV – does that ring a bell? And no, it’s not a typo… It’s a Roman numeral and it stands for 1494, quite a pivotal year in the world of whisky and especially for the newly founded Lindores Abbey Distillery. 1494 is the year in which, according to the Scottish Whisky Association, the earliest documented record of distilling in Scotland occurred in the Exchequer Rolls (the tax records): An entry lists “To Friar John Cor, 8 bolls of Malt, wherewith to make Aqua Vitae for King James IV.” Friar J...
Mar 22, 2024•39 min•Ep. 34
10 centimetres of snow, a single track road and its end, a Viking-style longhouse, mystically lit by torches and overlooking a picturesque Norwegian fjord – wow! That’s what our arrival looked like when approaching Aurora Spirit Distillery - quite the way to arrive at a distillery… Okay, okay, you have to go there in late autumn or winter for the snow and the torches are well-animated electrical torches, but still, our “wow” keeps standing – and we haven’t even mentioned the majestic Northern Li...
Nov 18, 2023•55 min•Ep. 33
Campeltown – once the whisky capital of the world – has become a place of whisky pilgrimage more and more in the last years. Nonetheless, many people still disregard the Glen Scotia Distillery in favour of their bigger neighbour. However, we think that is a mistake! At Glen Scotia, Iain McAlister and his team produce a worldclass spirit and mature it to perfection. And apart from the great whisky you can get there, the atmosphere when you arrive at the distillery is just absolutely wonderful. Ev...
Sep 30, 2023•46 min•Ep. 32
If you think of a whisky distillery in Scotland which stands for powerful and peaty whisky with a hint of sweet vanilla and citrus, which is extremely good at storytelling, very creative in bringing old myths to life to describe and sell their whiskies with worldclass marketing but which is also seen as quite polarising at times throughout the whisky community, which distillery name pops up in your head? For many of you, just like for us, the answer is probably going to be Ardbeg. Year in, year ...
Aug 26, 2023•36 min•Ep. 31
Far up north, just off the northernmost point of the UK’s mainland, there are the Orkneys – islands shaped by the sea and extreme weather. And right up there, on these rough islands, there’s a distillery which is extremely beautifully situated and producing surprisingly smooth whisky. Of course, we are talking about Scapa Distillery overlooking the breathtaking Scapa flow. And that’s exactly the place where we recorded this episode with Mick Swanney, team leader at Scapa Distillery. As a real Or...
Jul 08, 2023•37 min•Ep. 30
How do you produce whisky inefficiently on purpose and why would you want to do that? Well, we also wanted to know and asked Phil and Simon Thompson of Thompson Bros Distillers, Dornoch Castle Hotel and the relatively newly founded Dornoch Distillery. Despite their young age, Phil and Simon have had the chance to try some extraordinary whiskies from times long gone, dating back as far as the 1900s. Inspired by that they set themselves the goal of recreating an old-style spirit. And since whisky ...
May 26, 2023•53 min•Ep. 29
Green rolling mountains, sleepy and bleating sheep, idyllic villages and vivid cities with wonderful people, vibrant traditional pubs with passionate folk music, delicious local food and, of course, a long and quite eventful history of producing whiskey… … Does that sound appealing to you? If yes, come join Miri on her trip to Ireland and experience the Emerald Isle with her! For this episode, the three of us sat down together to have a chat about Miri’s journey and, of course, Miri didn’t come ...
May 03, 2023•48 min•Ep. 28
If we told you that there is a distillery in the Scottish Highlands, which is beautifully situated, easily accessible, has a very rich history, but which is still quite often overlooked, would you want to know more about it – especially if you knew that they promise you the “golden dram”? Well, we were certainly intrigued and once we visited for the first time, we couldn’t but visit many more times in the following years. Of course, we’re talking about Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery, where we met ...
Apr 16, 2023•49 min•Ep. 27
“If you can work in the stillhouse at Dalmore, you can work in any stillhouse in the world because it’s completely complicated” – doesn’t sound like the easiest of jobs, don’t you think? So let’s get to know the man who is responsible to make sure that every single drop of The Dalmore is, well, The Dalmore, despite the quite complicated process in the stillhouse. Let’s meet Mark Lancaster and find out, why it is actually that intricate to produce The Dalmore's spirit. Mark Lancaster is the disti...
Mar 23, 2023•51 min•Ep. 26
No Scots on this episode?! Not for me, you say? BUT WAIT!! This German-Italian whisky-bromance straight from our hometown Munich might indeed be a bit different but we can assure you that it still makes for a great listen. In this episode we talk to Davide Ansalone and Randolph Kunis. You might know Davide better as @whisky_munich on Instagram, since he is one of the most influential and biggest whisky bloggers there. Apart from that, Davide is also a member of WhiskyFacile, a new and very promi...
Feb 12, 2023•57 min•Ep. 25
Nicole Lindsay you say? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? And indeed, if you follow our podcast regularly you probably know her already from our episode about Springbank Distillery. This time, however, Springbank will take a backseat since the episode is (mainly) about Kilkerran Single Malt and Glengyle Distillery. We met Nicole in the new Springbank blending lab to record this episode and it was so much fun talking to her again since she is an absolutely wonderful person and so incredibly knowledgea...
Nov 26, 2022•59 min•Ep. 24
Have you always wanted to meet the legendary Swedish mermaid of the Ardnamurchan peninsula? Then here's your chance: Meet Jenny Karlsson, Ardnamurchan Distillery's marketing and communications manager, part of the blending team, part-time mermaid and much more. We travelled all the way to the very West of Scotland's mainland to talk to Jenny in situ about Ardnamurchan, AD whisky, the narrow single-track road leading to the distillery, sustainability, hidden gems in the warehouses, Miriam's and M...
Oct 14, 2022•51 min•Ep. 23
We’re back on the Isle of Arran – we really love this little island! And no! Even though we greatly enjoy our chats with Andy Bell of Lochranza Distillery, we don’t have him on the podcast this time – and actually this episode is not even about Lochranza Distillery. Instead, we will focus on the Isle of Arran’s newest gem: Lagg Distillery (what a beautiful place!!). We travelled all the way to the south end of Arran, straight into the Scottish Lowlands (wait, really?!) to talk to Lagg’s distille...
Sep 09, 2022•54 min•Ep. 22
This weekend it's derby time in Edinburgh: Hibs against Hearts. Hibernian Football Club and Heart of Midlothian will face off in the first derby of this (still very young) football season. Wait, isn't this a podcast about whisky? So why are we talking about football here? Well, we went to Edinburgh to record with Greg Urquhart and John Moffat of the spirits company Gleann Mòr, which is known for their independent bottlings of "Rare Find" whisky in the whisky world. Listen in and Greg and John wi...
Aug 05, 2022•48 min•Ep. 21
The Mecca of whisky. Whisky drinkers' heaven. The one place, probably every Scotch whisky lover wants to visit at least once in their lifetime. Of course, we're talking about the Isle of Islay in the Scottish Hebrides with its currently 9 working distilleries (and at least 2 more to come), home to arguably the best peated whisky on this planet. We're finally back after a short break and we've got a brand new episode for you: We went to talk to Cat Gordon of Islay's oldest whisky producer, Bowmor...
Jul 17, 2022•43 min•Ep. 20
It is probably going to be very hard (impossible?!) to find another place on earth with a higher distillery-density than the Scottish Speyside - and apart from some of the best Scotch whiskies being produced there, the possibility to visit so many different distilleries within such a small space makes the region a magnet for whisky tourism. One distillery that can't be missed during a visit in the Speyside is Glenfarclas Distillery. Owned by the Grant family and thus being one of the few left fa...
Apr 17, 2022•52 min•Ep. 19
This episode of “The Barrel Talk” is slightly different than what you are used to. Michael and Andrea Gradl of Gradl’s Wiskyfässla in Nuremberg, who are the co-founders and co-organisers of The Village Whisky Fair invited us to come to the fair and “present The Village to an international audience”. Of course, we couldn’t say no and subsequently spent three fabulous days in Nuremberg, working quite a lot, meeting lots of wonderful people, recording this special episode and enjoying a very specia...
Apr 13, 2022•2 hr 16 min•Ep. 18
For this episode of The Barrel Talk we will once more stay in the Scottish Speyside, in Elgin, to be precise, and are joined by Iain Allan, global brand ambassador and visitor centre manager of Glen Moray Distillery. If you are a fan of exploring whisky matured in all kinds of different casks, Glen Moray is probably one of your go-to whiskies because of the vast variety of different finishes and maturations. Discover interesting facts about the idea behind and the roots of Glen Moray's rich dive...
Mar 27, 2022•44 min•Ep. 17
Peated. Speyside. Privately-owned. These three words sound as if they don't match but indeed, they describe the distillery starring in our latest episode: Benromach. Nestled between Inverness and Elgin, in the small town of Forres, we had the opportunity to talk to Benromach's distillery manager Keith Cruickshank about what makes Benromach special. Being owned by Gordon & MacPhail, Keith would rather claim that Benromach is actually "his distillery" - in this episode you will find out why. L...
Mar 11, 2022•58 min•Ep. 16
