Edradour Distillery: 1825 to 2025 with Andrew Symington
"I'm a whisky nerd," admits Andrew Symington the owner of Edradour Distillery. "That's how I got involved in the business. I love the different flavours."
Edradour, near Pitlochry in Highland Perthshire, is one of Scotland's smallest distilleries and, Andrew says, Scotland's "last traditional farm distillery".
Andrew's been in the whisky business for almost 40 years, both as the owner of Edradour and as an independent bottler with his Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky company bottling “single, single, single malt". That's malts produced by a single distillery, from a single distillation and a single cask.
And in this episode he tells John how Edradour, established 200 years ago in 1825, had "illegal origins", when local farmers would create a literal smoke screen by lighting fires to throw off the Government's excisemen looking for for the plume from illicit stills; how the distillery's "very small, short dumpy stills" make a "heavy oily spirit" which goes into Edradour's range of non-peated and heavily peated malt whiskies; how he uses traditional sherry and bourbon casks as well as red wine barrels from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Amarone; and how the Scotch whisky industry is facing "headwinds": the cost of living crisis, the effects of Brexit, over-production and over-pricing, global supply chain issues, the threat of US tariffs, and increasingly international competition.
But he says: "As long as we're not greedy; as long as we keep the heritage there, Scotch whisky still has a good future."
So pour yourself a wee dram and tune in as John and Andrew talk whisky.
Slàinte!
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Socials:
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
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Cask to Glass
How do you take your whisky?
Neat? Splash of water? Block of ice? Or even a mixer?
However you take it, join John Beattie, former Scotland rugby international and semi-retired BBC radio and TV news presenter, as he celebrates the heritage and flavour of Scotland's national drink and the world's favourite spirit.
Whether you call it whisky, whiskey, uisge beatha, aqua vitae, or the water of life... there's a story behind every dram; a craftsman behind every drop; an aroma with every nose; and a flavour in every sip.
This is the spirit of Scotland: distilled in a place; shared around the world.
What makes it so special? Why is it so loved? And who are the people that make it, and the aficionados who drink it?
Join John every Thursday as he explores the alchemy that takes place from cask to glass.
Slàinte!
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Host: John Beattie
Producer: David Holmes
Socials:
@C2GWhisky
@JohnRossBeattie
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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