0:00:09 > 0:00:11This is the story of whisky,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15and I start it right here, in the heart of Tokyo.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Around these streets are bars crammed with people
0:00:18 > 0:00:20imbibing the amber liquid.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22It will be a fascinating journey,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26so come with me as I tell the story of Scotland's gift to the world.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm going on a pilgrimage to find out why such a simple drink
0:00:33 > 0:00:36has come to mean so much.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Hi, my name is Jim, I'm from Scotland.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41From the makers to the marketeers,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43and the chemists to the cocktail makers,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46and from the Highlands to Hobart in Tasmania.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I'll be meeting the people and travelling to the places immersed
0:00:52 > 0:00:55in Scottish whisky's world story.
0:00:55 > 0:01:01This is the tale of an ancient craft that became a global colossus.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03It is the tale of Scotch.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Isn't it grand that this stuff's made in Scotland?
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Aye, but that's gey true.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24The one country that has given its name unchallengeably to a product
0:01:24 > 0:01:28that is known and accepted in every corner of the world, Scotch -
0:01:28 > 0:01:31enjoyed by all peoples on all occasions.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37For half a millennium,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Scotch whisky has been made by the fermenting and distilling
0:01:40 > 0:01:43of water and barley.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47The spirit these ingredients conjure up is then filtered into oak casks
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and left to mature.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52It is a raw, simple recipe,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and yet the result is a drink loved by millions of people
0:01:56 > 0:01:57across the planet.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01The nature of distillation is that distillers use what grow around them.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04If you're in France, you use grapes to make brandy.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08If you're in Mexico, you use agave to make mescal or tequila.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10If you're in the Caribbean, you use cane to make rum.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14In Scotland, Scotland's geology means we grow barley.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18So immediately you're talking about distillers having a sense of place
0:02:18 > 0:02:21and a sense of location.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25And their spirits are embedded within the ground and soil,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and I would also argue the culture of that place.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30In simple terms it is distilled beer.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36And, you know, made from good Scottish barley, normally,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and nice, good water.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47This is Scotland as seen through whisky.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52Each light represents one of Scotland's 118 working distilleries.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Each twinkle is where the alchemy happens and whisky is born.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01By tradition, there are five main whisky regions -
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Highland, Speyside,
0:03:04 > 0:03:10Islay, Campbeltown and Lowland.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Most of these distilleries produce malt whisky made from barley.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Some of it is drunk as single Scotch,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18but most of it goes into blended whisky.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21And just as vital for blends is grain whisky,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24produced in seven distilleries across Scotland.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26And when you view all of it together,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29from this perspective it is truly breathtaking.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33A tiny country on the fringes of north-western Europe
0:03:33 > 0:03:36produces an amber liquid that spreads around the world.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40No wonder Scotland regards itself as the home of whisky.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45It can feel as if that status is under threat
0:03:45 > 0:03:47from a number of pretenders to the throne.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Fellow whisky giants like Japan and America are chasing
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Scotland's crown. Scottish distilleries are being bought up
0:03:54 > 0:03:56by multinational companies.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59And there is an energetic craft whisky movement,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02with fresh methods of production.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Scotch is at a crossroads.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08No pretender, though, will ever have Scotch whisky's greatest advantage -
0:04:08 > 0:04:12the way it is interlaced with the identity of an entire nation.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17The production of whisky is sort of woven into the texture and fabric
0:04:17 > 0:04:21of the nation, from Lowlands to Highlands.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24You don't go too far without being touched by whisky
0:04:24 > 0:04:29in one respect or another. Its footprint covers the nation.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It's a bit like in Canada people talk about the Mounties are, you know,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35part of Canadian fabric, and the maple leaf and things like that.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37You have these symbols that represent a country,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and I have to say if ever there was a symbol that represented a country,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Scotch whisky has got to take the top honours.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Passion, I think, is the one word,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49if somebody said, "How would you describe, define Scotch?"
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Passion. And that's from the people who create it to the people
0:04:52 > 0:04:56who drink it, to the people who market it and package it.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Passion is always at the heart of Scotch.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The writer Charlie MacLean described it as the blood of one small nation.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13This is a drink of heartfelt sentiment,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and a character trait of Scotland itself.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Yet the dram reaches our lips via a colossal global industry.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27In whisky there is money, vast amounts of it.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29And down the years, multinational companies,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31some from outside of Scotland and the UK,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34have bought up Scotland's whisky distilleries.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39The largest is Diageo, a British company, which owns 28.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Chivas Brothers, a French company, own 15,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45largely concentrated around Speyside.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49And in fact, France is still the largest consumer of Scotch whisky
0:05:49 > 0:05:50in the world.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Bacardi has another five.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Beam Suntory, a Japanese company, has five,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58as do Thai and Philippine corporations.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Large-scale Scottish ownership is sadly rare.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05William Grant has five distilleries, Edrington four.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09And right across Scotland you have the independents like Springbank
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and Campbeltown, or the new craft distilleries
0:06:12 > 0:06:14which are part of a burgeoning scene.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18But there's also a sadness in the fact that whisky has moved so far
0:06:18 > 0:06:22from its homely origins, and that only a fraction of the vast wealth
0:06:22 > 0:06:25it creates stays within these shores.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27This is so much more than a drink -
0:06:27 > 0:06:29it's an industry, it's a brand.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40This is Stirling, the ancient capital of Scotland,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42and looking east from here towards Alloa,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45lying between us is another capital.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50It is the capital of the biggest manufacturer of spirits in the world.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53And it's also the biggest manufacturer of Scotch whisky,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57and it's owned by Diageo, and it is, in effect, an empire.
0:07:01 > 0:07:07Diageo's Blackgrange warehouse site stretches out over 250 acres,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12and has the capacity to store over 3 million casks of whisky.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14There are ten miles of roadway here,
0:07:14 > 0:07:19and Blackgrange even has its own fire brigade.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23It is just one portion of this £50 billion drinks company.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29When you think about the whisky industry, it's something
0:07:29 > 0:07:31that had very humble origins,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34in a little croft somewhere in a misty glen in the Highlands
0:07:34 > 0:07:37or the islands of Scotland, hundreds of years ago.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40When you cut to today, there is a massive,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43multi-billion pound enterprise that spans the world.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46And, even here in Diageo's warehouse and cooperage,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49it's like a small town in its own right.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52And Diageo is running an empire.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Well, I think empire is probably a key word,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59because the growth of Scotch really went in parallel
0:07:59 > 0:08:01with two or three things.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The first was the growth of the British Empire,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06the colonial economy,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Scotsmen travelling all over the world taking a thirst and a love
0:08:09 > 0:08:11for whisky with them,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14which is really what promoted the earliest exports
0:08:14 > 0:08:17in the 1850s and 1860s.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21And then from the Empire you have the growth of global economies,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25and Scotch whisky, whether people like it or not, is a global drink.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27It's Scotland's gift of the world.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28And it was...
0:08:28 > 0:08:32- That's a lovely way of putting it. - It is, isn't it?- It is our gift of the world, yes.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35It's absolutely true. And along with that went, I think, another gift
0:08:35 > 0:08:39from Scotland, which was in the late 19th and early 20th century,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42astonishing visionary entrepreneurship.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You know, the people like the Ballantines and the Chivas brothers,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47and the Johnnie Walkers and the Dewars,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52these guys who took this crofting thing, this wonderful drink,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54and had the vision to turn it into something on an absolutely
0:08:54 > 0:08:57global scale. Which meant inventing things like...
0:08:57 > 0:09:00What you're seeing today was invented about 100 years ago -
0:09:00 > 0:09:03the logistics on a huge scale that people never thought of doing.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05The fundamentals are still the same.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08- Absolutely the same. - And the process has been refined.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09Yeah. The process has been refined,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12but the thing about these early entrepreneurs,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14which actually is what you've been seeing as well today -
0:09:14 > 0:09:16they were obsessed by quality.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20They were obsessed by quality and obsessed by consistency.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24So how you make your stills, how you make your barrels,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26how you put your blends together,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29is what's going to give you the drink that will conquer the world.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31And that's what they wanted to do then, and that's what we do now,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33we just do it at this huge scale.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37I think that the big companies actually drive a lot of quality,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40and I've got a lot of respect for that, actually.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43I think it is a really good, powerful thing.
0:09:43 > 0:09:49I mean, ultimately, these smaller distilleries wouldn't be starting up
0:09:49 > 0:09:54here in Scotland if it wasn't for all the efforts that the big boys
0:09:54 > 0:09:59have put into creating great products that go around the world
0:09:59 > 0:10:03telling everybody about what we do in Scotland.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Working with smaller companies, family-owned companies,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09the few that are left, they can typically make faster decisions,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11they can make more decisive decisions.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13They're not as committee-bound.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16But they don't have the depth of resources that perhaps
0:10:16 > 0:10:19the multinationals do, they don't have the global distribution reach,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23they don't have the power of a bigger portfolio of spirits
0:10:23 > 0:10:26that helps those multinationals in trade negotiations
0:10:26 > 0:10:29with the trade right round the world.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Whether small distillery or industrial titan,
0:10:32 > 0:10:37whisky is underpinned by traditional craft skills.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Whisky production will always need human hands.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45Despite its own size, Diageo seem to know this homely truth,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49as I found in visits to their coppersmiths and then cooperage.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Charlie, where are we going now?
0:10:51 > 0:10:55So this is the copper shop where we fabricate all the copper stills.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59We obviously have to keep it separate from the other metals
0:10:59 > 0:11:03that we are fabricating in, so we don't get cross-contamination
0:11:03 > 0:11:05of the different materials.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They're beautiful beasts, aren't they?
0:11:07 > 0:11:10I love them. I love the way the light catches them,
0:11:10 > 0:11:11you know, the burnished copper.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13They actually look like sculptures in copper.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15- They do.- They are like works of art.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18There are different shapes, different shapes for different distilleries.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19Yes.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21So these are made to order?
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Yes, these are for Mannochmore.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27And if we went back, I'll have the original engineering drawings for these.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29So we don't have to design ourselves,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32we just replicate exactly what they've got in the distillery.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39You have to touch it, don't you?
0:11:39 > 0:11:42It feels alive, it really does, and hear the echo.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Most of this is done by hand?
0:11:46 > 0:11:49All of the important parts are done by hand, yes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53The shape of the still is probably the most critical part
0:11:53 > 0:11:55in the whisky-making process.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58What happens is,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00as the spirit vapours run up,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03more and more of them will condense on the side of the still.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07They'll run back down into liquid, and be re-distilled.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08And the more times that happens,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13the lighter the character of the whisky you will get.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15And that will ultimately affect the final flavour of the whisky?
0:12:15 > 0:12:17The character of the whisky, yes.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Fittingly, for a drink steeped in mythology,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23there seems to be little agreement about what exactly
0:12:23 > 0:12:25makes whisky's flavour.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28You cannot make whisky unless you use copper.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- You would say that. - No, no, the scientists,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34the clever people have tried, not me.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37They have tried in the past - it's got to be copper.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Tell me, how much do you think the copper influences the final taste of the whisky?
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Absolutely. You can put it in barrels to get flavour enhancement...
0:12:45 > 0:12:49What do you mean you CAN put it in barrels? You have to put it in barrels.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53You can do it in different types of barrels to get flavour enhancements.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56But copper's the most important part of the whisky-making process.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59That determines the character of your whisky.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01You're a hard man to argue with, Charlie.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08By law, all Scotch whiskies for the home market have to mature
0:13:08 > 0:13:10for at least three years,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and the casks in which they are stored are all-important.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Used sherry casks made of stout Spanish oak have a special place
0:13:17 > 0:13:19in the Scotch whisky industry.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Tom, what are these guys doing?
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Well, what they are doing here, David... These are actually
0:13:27 > 0:13:30ex-wine casks that have been broken down and palletised.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33So basically they've been used in the wine industry.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36What the guys are doing is taking them off the pallets and putting
0:13:36 > 0:13:39them onto the barrows there. And typically we'll rise that cask.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41So you can see from that stave there,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43that's actually been a red wine cask.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46So what we'll do with that is, through the process,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50we will re-fire that cask and put a nice char on that cask.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52That's exactly what we are looking for.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56The cask is the most important thing for the whisky industry.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58That's where the whisky is matured,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01that's where it gets its flavour and its colour from.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03It's very important to the whisky industry.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Now, you see, the copper workers where they make the stills
0:14:06 > 0:14:08would disagree with you. I agree with you -
0:14:08 > 0:14:12I think it's the cask that gives you the predominant taste in the whisky.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Yeah. I mean, the coppersmiths play a very important part, you know,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21for distinctive distilleries in getting the flavour as well.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24But, for me, the important part is really the cask and how it goes through
0:14:24 > 0:14:29the maturation process in the warehouses, so it's very important for us.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34What puts the flavour into whisky are a lot of things, sometimes you
0:14:34 > 0:14:37easily say that it's around 60%, 70% of the flavour
0:14:37 > 0:14:41comes from the barrel, from the maturation, from the oak.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46It could very well be that the thing with producing malt whisky
0:14:46 > 0:14:51is that we really don't know exactly where the flavour comes from.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55It probably comes from the barley as well.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Least of all it comes from the water, I can probably say that.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02We used to notice, when we were nosing the whisky,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05that if a man came on shift
0:15:05 > 0:15:09and he had a fight with his wife before he came on shift,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14his attitude to distilling was very different if he'd just come out
0:15:14 > 0:15:17having given her a nice kiss before he left.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19It was a completely different approach -
0:15:19 > 0:15:24a loving approach on the one hand, and a hateful approach on the other.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26And the whisky definitely,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30you know, reflected that kind of attitude.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32You know, people who know their craft,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34they know when the spirit is right.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39They know when those casks are able to be reused or if they should
0:15:39 > 0:15:41have a stave changed.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44There's these little bits that are, you know...
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Science is hugely important to it and we can't deny that,
0:15:47 > 0:15:52but humans and our impact on it and how each person makes their whisky
0:15:52 > 0:15:54in their own way, or each distillery does,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56is still very important, I think.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59And that adds the slight magic to it as well.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01I'm an advocate of the magicry.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04But behind all the magicry, there is a logic and a science.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07But it is more about feeling and understanding the whisky,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and understanding the DNA of the whisky.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13We actually... For almost every cask we have,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16we have got a fingerprint of how it's been developing
0:16:16 > 0:16:19over the last...whatever -
0:16:19 > 0:16:20eight, nine, ten years.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Casks... Typically, a cask will last in excess of 100 years.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29So casks will come in here, we'll rejuvenate the cask,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and we might not see it again for 25 or 30 years.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Then it will come back again and we can rejuvenate it again.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And it goes on like that.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41OK, David, so this, as you can see,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44this is a cask that's been through the charring process.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47You can see the nice char we've got inside the cask -
0:16:47 > 0:16:49that's exactly what we're looking for,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51a good uniformed char.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53The edge is really blackened, isn't it?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- Yes, it's really black. - Do you scrape that?
0:16:56 > 0:16:58That's it finished, that's it ready for filling now,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00that's exactly what we're looking for.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03So you'll put the liquor straight into that barrel now?
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Yes, absolutely, yes.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Since this has been in the furnace there, the internal flames,
0:17:08 > 0:17:09it hasn't been touched?
0:17:09 > 0:17:12It's only been sprayed with water to cool it down, and that's it?
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Yes, that's it.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16What we'll do now is we'll put the cask ends back in the cask,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20retighten the hoops and off it'll go and that will be filled
0:17:20 > 0:17:22in the filling store today,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26and be back in the warehouses, if not tonight, tomorrow.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And it will lie there for another five, six, whatever years.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And this all ends up in my single malt whisky?
0:17:32 > 0:17:36That's it, yeah. That's how you can sit back and enjoy it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37No wonder I like burnt toast!
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I'd like to introduce you to a couple of the guys here.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02This is Paul.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Paul's a third year apprentice.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06And this is John, John's his tutor.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07This is David.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Coopering isn't for everyone.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14Obviously, a laddie who's got a good bit of strength about him helps.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17If you're a good build laddie it helps,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21but when I started I was tiny, I was a wee skinny thing.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25That's what your apprenticeship's all about, for the four years it helps build up your core,
0:18:25 > 0:18:30your body strength to become... The end result is a cooper.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It's not something that happens overnight, as I say, four years.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36That's it been cut back, it used to be a lot longer, five years, seven years.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39When my grandfather was a cooper it was seven, sometimes nine.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41So...
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Surely that was just an excuse not to pay them a full wage?
0:18:44 > 0:18:48- Maybe!- Rather than taking seven or eight years to train.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50A lot of the system was changed by machines,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53so a lot of the hand work was taken out of it.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56What we're left with now is just the core.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58This is something that they really need to learn.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Basically, if they were wanting to go anywhere in the world
0:19:01 > 0:19:03they would be employable anywhere.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07They could make a barrel anywhere, not just in Diageo.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Like many whisky companies, Diageo is a member of
0:19:10 > 0:19:13the Scotch Whisky Association, or SWA.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Based in Edinburgh, the SWA seeks to give the industry a unified,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19global voice.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24We do lots of things, but we do two things in particular.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28First of all we try and chase down fake,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30fraudulent Scotch whisky round the world,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34we have a team of legal advisers who help us do that.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And second we help get Scotch whisky into markets overseas,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41we work to influence other governments to take down barriers
0:19:41 > 0:19:45so that there is fair competition for our product around the world.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48According to the SWA,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53each year the Scotch whisky industry adds £5 billion of value
0:19:53 > 0:19:54to the UK economy.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Vital to Scotch whisky is the export market -
0:19:59 > 0:20:02this drink now reaches 175 countries.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Over 1 billion bottles of Scotch whisky are exported annually,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11at a value of around £4 billion.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15It also contributes £1 billion to the UK Exchequer,
0:20:15 > 0:20:22with an average bottle taxed at a rate of 76% in VAT and excise duty.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Whisky and tax have long gang thegither.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31The mother of parliaments, its tentacles spread across the land,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33ensnaring all in their wake.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35They always have.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38And in the century after the Act Of Union, this place
0:20:38 > 0:20:40grappled hard with the whisky industry.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43What Westminster wanted to do was to curb excessive drinking,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47while at the same time reap the revenues from whisky sales.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Throughout the 18th century, Westminster churned out legislation
0:20:50 > 0:20:54that entangled distilleries large and small.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Therefore, Islay, Campbeltown and Speyside...
0:20:58 > 0:21:00The whisky making went underground
0:21:00 > 0:21:03so the amber nectar became moonshine,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06and Scotland's illicit stills flourished.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12While the taxed industry ploughed on, the moonshiners thrived.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Hidden from view and hard to reach for the dreaded excise man,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18illicit distillers perfected their craft.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Theirs became the whisky drunk not only by crofters,
0:21:21 > 0:21:26peasants and the urban poor, but by the aristocracy too.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30The illicit whisky was seen as the true quality.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33So it was asked for
0:21:33 > 0:21:37on King George IV's visit of Scotland,
0:21:37 > 0:21:401822.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Sir Walter Scott very carefully stage-managed,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47the King asked for a drop of the real Glenlivet, long in the wood,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49and long in uncorked bottles.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52So, you know, street cred was pretty good -
0:21:52 > 0:21:54he was asking for Glenlivet.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59And from that, the reform of the distilling acts were speeded up
0:21:59 > 0:22:03by the landed gentry who wanted to see an end to the illicit distilling,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07but saw that there was a way of improving their estates, etc.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And controlling it, of course.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15In the 1820s, law changes eased conditions and taxation
0:22:15 > 0:22:18and turned the old centres of illicit distilling into booming,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21legitimate whisky areas.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Among them, Campbeltown flourished.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30This is Campbeltown. It was once Whisky Mecca,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33for in its heyday it had 34 distilleries.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Sadly, today, there are only three.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Up every alleyway was a portal to another distillery.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The air must have hung like a strange perfume,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45heady, intoxicating, delightful.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50You can almost sense the ghosts of distilleries past.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52"Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,"
0:22:52 > 0:22:54were the words of an old music hall song,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56and it might just as well have been,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59because this bay would have swarmed with ships ready to take
0:22:59 > 0:23:03the liquid delights from Campbeltown out across the oceans
0:23:03 > 0:23:04to the rest of the world.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Campbeltown thrived thanks to its deep natural harbour,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12rich raw materials and ready access to the ocean
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and, therefore, export markets.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19In Victorian times it was nicknamed the Whisky Metropolis.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Then after World War I, a dreadful combination of factors
0:23:23 > 0:23:26all but ended whisky making here.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30This is the shell of one of the 34 distilleries that used to exist
0:23:30 > 0:23:32in Campbeltown.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36The ghosts of whisky past.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41The only spirits that are here now are the spirits of the whisky makers
0:23:41 > 0:23:43of bygone days.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45God, I bet these stones could tell a tale or two.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53Campbeltown had produced too much whisky, much of it low in quality,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56at a time when consumption levels were falling.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00What's more, natural resources were running low,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and the railways that helped roll Highland and Speyside whisky
0:24:03 > 0:24:06out to the markets never arrived here.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10It's time to find an antidote to that tale of woe, a place where
0:24:10 > 0:24:14the best of Campbeltown remains well and truly alive.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19This is Springbank distillery in the heart of Campbeltown
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and it's a very unique place I've always wanted to visit.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25For a start it's been owned by the same whisky family
0:24:25 > 0:24:28for over 200 years. And also, every single part
0:24:28 > 0:24:30of the whisky making process,
0:24:30 > 0:24:31from the malting, the distilling,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34the maturing and the bottling is all done on site,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and I'm going to witness the whole process.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Springbank is at the centre of the community here
0:24:40 > 0:24:42and employs more than 70 locals.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Today I'm joining them, having enrolled in one of
0:24:47 > 0:24:51their whisky schools under the capable guidance of Kerry,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55who has worked her way up from shop floor to distiller.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Kerry, how long has this been soaking?
0:24:57 > 0:24:58This has been soaking for two days,
0:24:58 > 0:25:0012 hours at a time.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02So the first time we'll soak it for 12 hours,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04we'll leave it to dry for 12 hours.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05Leave it to dry in here in the tank?
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Yeah. And then we'll re-fill it with water for 12 hours,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12and then again dry for 12 before it's laid out onto the floor.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Tip it up.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Starch in the barley has been modified
0:25:27 > 0:25:30so that later in the process, it will become sugar.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38The new barley is wet and warm.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42In three days, some whiskery roots appear.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46After seven days it's almost ready for the drying.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50As the barley dries, it is regularly turned to help its germination.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53You'll see it actually lifting from the bottom and throwing it over,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55so it's turning.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58We've been making whiskies, most of us, for a long time.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00So, yeah,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03it's part of our rhythm of life.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07The year goes round, a distilling year, very much like a farming year,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10which we are connected to. The crops are being put in just now,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14we'll be watching the progress of the barley throughout Scotland
0:26:14 > 0:26:18for the next few months, we'll watch the harvest, etc,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21and, yes, it's just...
0:26:21 > 0:26:25I live in a village where there are ten distilleries so I can't help
0:26:25 > 0:26:28but bump into folk that are involved in distilleries.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Being a student of whisky made me realise the amount of hard toil
0:26:34 > 0:26:38that goes into distilling when it's undertaken traditionally,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41as it is here at Springbank.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43You earn your dram.
0:26:48 > 0:26:49This is quite steep.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55- Oh!- You can smell it, you can smell the peat,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57the smell of smoke.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00So this is the first half we put away this morning.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This is the second half just dropping in now.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06So what you've seen from above, this is where it's dropping into.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11That's coming off the conveyor belt upstairs?
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Exactly. And dropping in, yeah.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17A conveyor belts transports the barley into a kiln,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20where it is either dried or smoked with peat,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23depending on the type of whisky being made.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I'm very biased, I have to say, I would like to see, as there are,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31more individual distilleries opening up because each individual distillery
0:27:31 > 0:27:34has to find a market for its whisky,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36as in its single malt whisky.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39If the majority of what you make is going off to be blended,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43which is a very big market,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46it's something which means you're making more and more,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48rather than you're watching what you're making.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51So small, independent distilleries,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53like ourselves and a few others...
0:27:53 > 0:27:56The quality of what they're going to put their label on
0:27:56 > 0:27:58is very important to them.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01If they become too big then it starts to become
0:28:01 > 0:28:03the quantity they can sell,
0:28:03 > 0:28:07and I think that's something which makes the difference between
0:28:07 > 0:28:10a corporate with lots of shareholders to fund
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and something like Springbank.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17As we're making a batch of peaty whisky, it's time to light the fire.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21I'm just about to set Springbank distillery on fire.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36It's this peat reek, an essential part of the process
0:28:36 > 0:28:40which helps to give the malt whiskies their individuality.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53The dried malt is stored ready for use. A grinding mill,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56the first of many modern machines in today's process,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00replaces the two flat stones used by our great-grandfathers.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02The malt is reduced to grist -
0:29:02 > 0:29:05coarse, medium and fine.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13Next, Springbank veteran Gavin takes me to the Porteous rolling mill,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17where the peat smoked barley is ground down to become grist.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19It's easier for the water...
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Then a process called mashing takes place.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27In a mash tun, the grist is mixed with hot water to change its starch
0:29:27 > 0:29:28into fermentable sugars.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Oh, there's life going on in there, isn't there?
0:29:31 > 0:29:35The sugary liquid produced, called wort, is then put into wash bags.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Yeast is added and fermentation begins,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42resulting in a beer-like liquid known as wash,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44of around 8% to 10% ABV.
0:29:44 > 0:29:50It'll go around, eating up all the sugars, converting it into alcohol.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53You know, the whole thing's live, that's an organic process going on,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55gurgling and bubbling.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00It's quite ferocious, more powerful than I thought.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03- Get the vapours from that, eh? - I'm really getting the vapour.
0:30:03 > 0:30:04Clears the sinuses.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09This wash is transferred into copper stills,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14heated and then distilled twice to create clear, new make spirit.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23There must be some heat in there.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30Springbank has a wonderful old-fashioned atmosphere,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32and traditional way of doing things,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35even down to the warning bell that tells the workers
0:30:35 > 0:30:37that everything is running to plan.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Hazelburn's one, two, three.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45But the Springbank's at one, two and a half.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49The distiller must be able to judge exactly which part of the spirit
0:30:49 > 0:30:54from the second distillation is to be retained as new make,
0:30:54 > 0:30:59checking on its progress as it runs through the spirit safe.
0:30:59 > 0:31:00Now, do you do it...
0:31:00 > 0:31:03When you know when the middle part is ready, do you do it by taste,
0:31:03 > 0:31:04or by smell, or by sight?
0:31:04 > 0:31:07It's all done by temperature...
0:31:07 > 0:31:09as well, when it's coming in.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11You'll know as well - it will be cloudy to start
0:31:11 > 0:31:13when they're checking the glasses.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17And then when you go on to clear spirits, the first 45 minutes
0:31:17 > 0:31:20is bad, as you call it, that's all your bad spirit.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22- We don't take that. - Will you recycle that?
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Yeah, that goes back in to the pipes.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27As we're Scottish, we don't waste anything.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Everything gets reused right down to 1%.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33It's very simple, it had to be simple for our great-grandfathers,
0:31:33 > 0:31:38being distillers etc, or being involved in distilling.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42My family, they were farmers, and the distilling was the other bit.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46It was simple - they brewed a beer, they distilled it.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Quality was simple.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50Does it smell OK?
0:31:50 > 0:31:51Does it taste OK?
0:31:51 > 0:31:52Do we shake the bubbles?
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Is the bubbles OK?
0:31:54 > 0:31:56That was their early quality control.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59We're getting near the end of the process, Gavin.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05The cask will sit here, you lift this up, it's like a petrol pump.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08When the spirit hits the bottom of the nozzle, it cuts out,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10and it records on the meter there
0:32:10 > 0:32:13how many litres is going in the cask.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16And then from here it is taken to the warehouse
0:32:16 > 0:32:17and stored for maturation.
0:32:17 > 0:32:24We had a man who always was responsible, in the filling store,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28of emptying down all the pipes once we'd filled all the casks.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30There was always a remnant,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34and he had to take this remnant and put it into a remnant cask.
0:32:34 > 0:32:40And he had to take it into a bucket and then fill it in a funnel,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42into the cask.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46And one day, the customs and excise officer,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50who was permanently present,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54came in to the filling store to check that everything was OK
0:32:54 > 0:32:58and this man, I won't mention his name,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01was taking a sip from a bucket...
0:33:03 > 0:33:05..of the new spirit.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08And the handle of the bucket went over his head,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and when the customs man came in, he was like this,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13trying to shake it off, you know.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15So these stories happened.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20Yeah, we had excisemen who knew where the good whisky was,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and helped themselves from time to time.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26It was all very...
0:33:26 > 0:33:31It was just accepted as part and parcel of the job.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Once the new make has been filtered into oak casks,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37it is left to mature for three years and a day,
0:33:37 > 0:33:42only after which can it legally be called whisky.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Single malts like Springbank though,
0:33:44 > 0:33:46are usually matured for at least a decade
0:33:46 > 0:33:48and often much longer.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I never knew it was that easy to break open a cask of whisky.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Slainte.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19A lovely drop to sample.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24But drinking in any distillery's working area is now a rarity.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29For many years though, distillery workers regularly drank on the job.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31It felt like they needed to.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35They might well be on shift, if they were working in the maltings,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38at four or five in the morning.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42And the brewer, the number two manager in the distillery,
0:34:42 > 0:34:48would pour new make, or white, or cleric, as it's known,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52and the boys would take off a good measure of that
0:34:52 > 0:34:53and then they'd have some later in the day.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58But you've got to remember, this was very hard, physical work.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02Changing a malting floor, rolling a barrel,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04moving casks of whisky into a warehouse
0:35:04 > 0:35:07is hard, dirty, physical work.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I wouldn't care to do it.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12If I had to do it, I'm sure a dram or three
0:35:12 > 0:35:14would definitely be called for.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17I think the alcoholism was almost deliberate,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21because it kept people from asking for proper wages
0:35:21 > 0:35:24and it kept people tied to a place.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27I think they're very strict about people drinking now,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30in the distillery, but I think also they pay them better.
0:35:30 > 0:35:31If you look at a lot of these jobs,
0:35:31 > 0:35:35they were not necessarily jobs that required highly educated workers.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38Although they needed a good skill, they weren't necessarily highly educated,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41so if you didn't have to pay them very much,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43if you paid them in alcohol... Because in the '50s and '60s
0:35:43 > 0:35:46alcohol was very expensive - people couldn't afford...
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Normal people couldn't afford whisky every couple of weeks
0:35:48 > 0:35:51or every month, so it was a way of keeping them.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55So although I'm sure the stories are, "It was really fun,"
0:35:55 > 0:35:56I do think it was really fun
0:35:56 > 0:35:59cos that was how you got through those circumstances.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Whereas now it's a job that you get paid a good wage for.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08If you can't afford to buy the single malt that you're making,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11then you're going to help yourself to it a wee bit,
0:36:11 > 0:36:13you know.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15They were doing it for sport,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19for a bit of fun, but also because it is that natural, innate rebellion
0:36:19 > 0:36:21that we all have.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24A distillery worker that I knew who's since retired,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28he told me that when he started in the distillery in question
0:36:28 > 0:36:33he had gone to listen to the radio, and the radio wasn't working
0:36:33 > 0:36:36so he got another radio and it wasn't working.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39And he went around the entire site and he couldn't get any
0:36:39 > 0:36:42radios working, and he realised that none of them had an aerial.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45And he found out the reason none of them have an aerial was cos
0:36:45 > 0:36:47they'd all been broken off cos they were getting used as straws
0:36:47 > 0:36:49for dramming from the casks.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52These days, on-site drinking is usually confined
0:36:52 > 0:36:54to visits and open days,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57a core part of many a distillery's business model.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Springbank's open day takes place once a year,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and is attended by people from across the world.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06I am attending Springbank whisky school, which is great.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09And have you learned much from it?
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Yes, I thought there was not too much they could tell me, but, yes,
0:37:13 > 0:37:14I've learned a lot from it.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Coming to Scotland in 1992, I was just over the age
0:37:20 > 0:37:24where I was allowed to drink, and I didn't have much money so I visited
0:37:24 > 0:37:28four distilleries, because at this time it was free.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Today, it's a big business, but at this time it was free, it was marketing.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36So I visited four distilleries, got four great drams,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39so every time was saying, "Why are these drams different?"
0:37:39 > 0:37:43And that got me into wanting to know more about whisky.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45It's my 18th time coming to Scotland now.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48- 18th?- Yes.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51I'm also coming for other reasons, for the people, for the landscape,
0:37:51 > 0:37:56for everything, but whisky is still the main reason for me to come here.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01The distillery's family-owned, and has been since it opened in 1828.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05The present chairman is of the impression
0:38:05 > 0:38:08he now should be putting that back to Campbeltown,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11because his family have had this distillery for so long.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14And it's the people of Campbeltown that did the work, made the whisky,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16which made the place famous.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18So he now decides,
0:38:18 > 0:38:24or wants to have a company which puts money back to the community, provides jobs.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29It would be so much easier to bring barley in ready-malted,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32but then that would lose people jobs, so we still do all that
0:38:32 > 0:38:35by hand, by ourselves. We bottle the stuff here -
0:38:35 > 0:38:39if we did it by sending it out to Glasgow, that's another 17 jobs.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44It's very labour-intensive, but then it's also what makes us Springbank.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47And I think that's why there's a feeling of pride in what we do,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51cos everybody employed is a custodian for the next generation
0:38:51 > 0:38:55that is going to come along. And if we expand, it's more jobs.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58We're certainly not going to modernise and mechanise things.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Springbank is special -
0:39:00 > 0:39:05it is as close as Scottish distilleries get to the original model.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07The place is rooted in the local community,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11something that shows in the merry band of workers who get the whisky
0:39:11 > 0:39:14into bottles and finally to market.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19That's you, you've bottled four Springbank bottles.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24Even if you hold it up that way, even if there was a blemish
0:39:24 > 0:39:27on the back, you can see it right through.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33Did I put two labels on?
0:39:33 > 0:39:35Did anyone notice?
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Don't tell anybody, will you?
0:39:43 > 0:39:45My secret's safe with you.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Thank you.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00That's the best birthday present I've ever had, honest.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14The Highland malt whiskies used in any Scotch blend of real consequence
0:40:14 > 0:40:17must each be aged in oak.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Scotch in the bottle will never improve.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24There is another magic secret in the creation
0:40:24 > 0:40:27of an outstanding Scotch blend, and that is that there must be
0:40:27 > 0:40:31a combination of many individual distillates if there is to be
0:40:31 > 0:40:36a well-rounded, tasteful, distinctive Scotch of best quality.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39While Springbank thrives on its single malts alone,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41the strength of the whiskies industry has, in fact,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45long been built on the back of blended whiskies.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49A blended whisky contains many single malts and, just as crucially,
0:40:49 > 0:40:50grain whisky.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56It was a technological development in the distilling of grain
0:40:56 > 0:40:58that changed Scotch whisky for ever.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Though makers had long blended their wares,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05mass production of blends became possible after 1830.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08That year an Irishman, Aeneas Coffey,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12refined a Scottish invention, the continuous still.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16His development, creating what is now known as the Coffey still,
0:41:16 > 0:41:21meant grain whisky could be made on an enormous scale, and at low cost.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26From the 1850s it was mixed with single malts to create blends
0:41:26 > 0:41:30and trailblazing Scots peddled them across the world.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35So you had a generation of Scots entrepreneurs who grabbed these
0:41:35 > 0:41:39technological changes, who looked at the evolution in the marketplace,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42who looked at the legislative changes and said,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46"We can come up with a product that fits better in the marketplace."
0:41:46 > 0:41:52And so the DNA of the great blends goes back to those days.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55So there was a Mr Buchanan, there was a Mr Hague,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59there was a Mr Walker, there was a Mr Dewar.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04And so a Dewar's blend today, a Walker's blend today,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09has its roots in what Mr Dewar or Mr Walker did, historically,
0:42:09 > 0:42:11in the mid and late 19th century.
0:42:11 > 0:42:17So Walker, for example, always had at its heart west coast whiskies.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Dewar's blend always had Perthshire whiskies at its heart.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25Going from the background of having licensed grocers that blended tea,
0:42:25 > 0:42:27so had this ability to take different flavours
0:42:27 > 0:42:29and characteristics and blend them together
0:42:29 > 0:42:30and then started blending whisky,
0:42:30 > 0:42:35and then you begin getting these individuals that start, really,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39travelling the world extensively and selling our wares
0:42:39 > 0:42:40and going out there as pioneers.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44You know, there's a number of well-known brands, nowadays,
0:42:44 > 0:42:46which are blends that all carry people's names.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49And to be able to tell to international visitors when they come in,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53"This is not a name that we made up," that some marketing agency
0:42:53 > 0:42:5710 or 20 years ago thought, "That sounds like a great Scottish name.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59"That sounds like a nice picture, let's put that."
0:42:59 > 0:43:02It's true. It's genuine, authentic heritage,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05and these are the people that made the blends,
0:43:05 > 0:43:09these and their families and their ancestors were the people that took
0:43:09 > 0:43:12them to market, that were these pioneers that in some cases
0:43:12 > 0:43:15where these eccentric characters.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18That, I think, is one of the cornerstones of Scotch whisky
0:43:18 > 0:43:21which makes it so successful in terms of its competition,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24is that it has this real authenticity behind it
0:43:24 > 0:43:27in these huge international brands.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30The ingenuity of these blend pioneers met with a vital piece
0:43:30 > 0:43:34of good fortune for Scottish whisky when, in 1871,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37the phylloxera virus destroyed French vineyards.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42With the vineyards destroyed, little or no brandy could be produced,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44and so whisky, which up until then
0:43:44 > 0:43:47had been the drink very much more of the working man,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51was allowed to move into that space in the market that had hitherto
0:43:51 > 0:43:53been taken by brandy
0:43:53 > 0:43:55which was the drink of the middle and upper classes,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57who would not have touched whisky.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00But along came branding to make it more acceptable,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03blending to make the product more palatable,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07patriotism to make it an acceptable thing to drink,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10and a shortage of supply of brandy.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13The most popular middle-class drink in London at the time
0:44:13 > 0:44:15is brandy and soda.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18All of a sudden you've got Scots and the Irish going,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21"Hello, we can actually do that as well, you know."
0:44:21 > 0:44:24And they reformulate the blends to make sure it does go
0:44:24 > 0:44:26with soda or ginger ale or whatever.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28All of a sudden you've got popularity,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31you've got middle-class respectability.
0:44:31 > 0:44:32That's the way any drink is built -
0:44:32 > 0:44:36as long as you've got a middle-class behind you, you're going to be fine.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39With the vineyards barren for another 25 years,
0:44:39 > 0:44:44Scotch whisky now only had one rival competitor - Ireland.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48Prohibition in the USA became a victory for Scotland.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52Various bootleggers head across to Ireland and knock on the door
0:44:52 > 0:44:55of Mr Jamieson, Mr Roe, Mr Power and they go,
0:44:55 > 0:45:00"Listen guys, ship the stuff to Canada or to Bermuda or wherever.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03"My friend Mr Capone here, you can trust him,
0:45:03 > 0:45:05"he will ship it in for you.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07"You will have done nothing illegal.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10"All you'll have done is shipping to somewhere where booze is legal."
0:45:10 > 0:45:14The Irish distillers, to a man, said, "Be gone with you."
0:45:14 > 0:45:20They then moved from Ireland across to London, and up to Glasgow,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24to all the blending houses and said exactly the same spiel.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27"So how much exactly do you want?"
0:45:28 > 0:45:32Increasingly, Scottish blends were made for American tastes,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36lighter and suited to being drunk with a mixer.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38One such blend was Cutty Sark,
0:45:38 > 0:45:43created in 1923 and now made alongside Famous Grouse
0:45:43 > 0:45:46by Edrington in Glasgow's Drumchapel.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53This is Drumchapel, where I spent ten years growing up as a boy,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56and in contrast to the tenements of the East End of Glasgow,
0:45:56 > 0:46:01it was a paradise, but now it is home to Famous Grouse whisky,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03and it's changed a lot in those years.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08Now, I often think that the magic and the mystery of whisky is in
0:46:08 > 0:46:11the soil, in the barley and in the water and in the hands that make it,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14but actually there is a very profound science behind
0:46:14 > 0:46:16the making of the drams we know and love,
0:46:16 > 0:46:21and when I tell you that 90% of the whiskies we export around the world
0:46:21 > 0:46:24are blended whiskies, then you'll understand the need for that science.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27And I'm about to look into it.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32Kirsteen Campbell is master blender for Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Kirsteen, you're a noser and a spitter -
0:46:34 > 0:46:36what a hell of a way to make a living.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38Well, yeah, I guess it is.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41We are referred to as nosers within the industry,
0:46:41 > 0:46:43and the majority of my work is done by nosing.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46But you're quite right, we do on occasion have to taste the whiskies,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49but when you're looking at up to 600 samples a day,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51you couldn't possibly taste them all, so that's where
0:46:51 > 0:46:53the elegant spitting comes in.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55600 a day! So you spit into a bucket?
0:46:55 > 0:46:58Yes, we do, we do, but it's really just at the final stage
0:46:58 > 0:47:02where I tend to taste the whiskies, or if I'm developing new ones.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Otherwise it's all done by nose.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06So the nose is really important?
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Absolutely, yes, yes.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12So tell me the process you go through, because I'm a single malt man,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14I live and die by single malts,
0:47:14 > 0:47:17and I think blended whisky's for boiling your tatties in.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20I know, you see, that's sacrilege to you.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23So convince me of the beauty of blends.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26You know, you need to be open about blending, rejoice in blending.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28It's a creative process,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31it's not just a matter of taking this distillery and that distillery
0:47:31 > 0:47:34and some grain whisky, bunging it together and you're going to get
0:47:34 > 0:47:37the same end result, because distilleries open,
0:47:37 > 0:47:41distilleries close, and companies fall out and stock supplies are...
0:47:41 > 0:47:44You might have a surplus, you might have a scarcity.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46And each cask is going to be different,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50so what a master blender does is actually look at all
0:47:50 > 0:47:53of the possibilities that they have in front of them,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55and tweak that recipe.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58So they might have a recipe, but it will be tweaked every single time
0:47:58 > 0:47:59a vatting is going to be made.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03There might be a little bit more grain, there might be a little less of that first fill sherry,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06there might be a different distillery coming in or combinations
0:48:06 > 0:48:10of different distilleries, to produce the same overall effect.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13And when you go into a blending lab and you get that explained to you
0:48:13 > 0:48:17by a blender, you kind of... Your head kind of explodes.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19How do you keep all this information,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21you know, within your brain?
0:48:21 > 0:48:22How do you learn all of that?
0:48:22 > 0:48:26How do you know that this whisky and this whisky and this whisky,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29when combined, will give that result?
0:48:29 > 0:48:30I mean, that's just mental.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34I hesitate to compare it with a box of Kellogg's Cornflakes,
0:48:34 > 0:48:36but when you buy a box of Kellogg's Cornflakes,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39you want it to be exactly like the last box of Kellogg's Cornflakes
0:48:39 > 0:48:42you bought, and you want the one after that to be the same again.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45So you want your bottle of Bells or Dewars or Walker,
0:48:45 > 0:48:50or whatever it may be, to be consistent to what you as a drinker have come to expect.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54What I've got for you, David, is really the process
0:48:54 > 0:48:58from new make spirit, because my job begins right back at the distillery stage
0:48:58 > 0:49:02where we look at the quality of the spirit before it goes into cask.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Then we move on to the cask types and the importance of the flavour
0:49:05 > 0:49:09that develops during that important time period during the whisky,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12and then how we bring all these complex flavours together
0:49:12 > 0:49:15to produce the same flavour of blend time in, time out.
0:49:15 > 0:49:21Had you not have had blenders, you would have had a fairly rustic,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24cottage industry which would probably have never got
0:49:24 > 0:49:27to the stage it was, because a lot of the products that were being made
0:49:27 > 0:49:29in the 19th and early 20th century
0:49:29 > 0:49:31were very difficult for people to drink.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Blenders sort of democratised whisky by making it more accessible
0:49:34 > 0:49:37from a flavour point of view.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40How many whiskies would be involved in each blend?
0:49:40 > 0:49:41Well, it can vary, actually,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45because for our blends we have core whiskies that we use
0:49:45 > 0:49:48each and every time we put the blend together.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Then there are other whiskies we put into flavour categories,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54and we can pick within those flavour categories,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56perhaps one or several within those.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00That's why it can vary from blend to blend, but ultimately,
0:50:00 > 0:50:05the flavour of the whisky must be the same, every bottle we put out.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07That must be really difficult to sustain.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09That's part of the training and the experience.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11- That's the challenge.- Yes.
0:50:11 > 0:50:19I am astounded by the fact that 90% of all Scotch exports are blends.
0:50:19 > 0:50:20- Absolutely.- I seriously am.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23I mean, 90%, all over, at home and abroad.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27The numbers are huge, and personally speaking, for me,
0:50:27 > 0:50:32within Edrington and our blends, I'm responsible for over
0:50:32 > 0:50:35- 50 million bottles, so yeah, it's huge numbers we're talking.- Wow.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38I'm a massive blended whisky fan.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41I just think that, going forward,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45blended whisky is going to have to keep up with the expectations
0:50:45 > 0:50:48that consumers have, that are being set by other products.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50It hasn't quite caught up yet,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54but from a production perspective it's so enormously creative
0:50:54 > 0:50:58that it absolutely will do, it's just waiting for people
0:50:58 > 0:51:00to sort of do it.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03'While Kirsteen guided me through some of the whiskies which go into
0:51:03 > 0:51:09'her blends, the full list remained tantalisingly confidential.'
0:51:09 > 0:51:13So that's us covered five new make spirits,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17everything from a light grain through to heavily peated malt.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19Those are your basic ingredients.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22- These are some of the basic ingredients.- Some of them?
0:51:22 > 0:51:24- There are much more? - Yes, top secret.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26These are the ones I'm going to share with you today.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28You're not going to show me the ultimate secret?
0:51:28 > 0:51:30- Not all of them, I can't possibly. - Oh, away you go, come on.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Your secret is safe with me, Kirsteen, honest.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36I'm an incurable romantic and I like to think that the production
0:51:36 > 0:51:40of whisky is an organic, creative, mystical kind of process,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43but it's got a sound base in science, hasn't it?
0:51:43 > 0:51:48Especially if you're trying to achieve the consistency of quality and flavour in a blend.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50You have to have both.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54We do a lot of research, and there is a lot of background science
0:51:54 > 0:51:59into how maturation performs and that type of thing.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01But ultimately, at the end of the day,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04there isn't an instrument that's as sensitive as the human nose,
0:52:04 > 0:52:09so it requires us as blenders to be there at that critical point
0:52:09 > 0:52:12of blending the product, to know how the flavour...
0:52:12 > 0:52:14And it's a lot about how flavours combine, as well -
0:52:14 > 0:52:16a machine can't tell us that.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21A master blender is the person who sort of
0:52:21 > 0:52:25marries these two positions together, and creates the whisky.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28So I think master blenders are essential,
0:52:28 > 0:52:33because they're sort of this meeting point, they gather up everybody,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36they gather up these opposing, sometimes opposing ideas,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39that are actually part of the same process that tend to get a bit lost,
0:52:39 > 0:52:41and bring them together.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47I have always been a snob in terms of whisky,
0:52:47 > 0:52:49and I've always dismissed blended whisky.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53You're the first person in my life that's convinced me otherwise.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Stop, Hayman, being a goddamn snob in terms of the whisky you drink.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00- Thank you. - I'm delighted you've said that.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Across the world,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06millions of us hold dear the romance that surrounds Scotch whisky,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08but as Kirsteen's work demonstrates,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11this drink has long been underpinned by science.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14The making of alcohol was first studied
0:53:14 > 0:53:18at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University during the early 1900s.
0:53:18 > 0:53:19OK, so now for the second stage...
0:53:19 > 0:53:22'I'm joining today's students in what is now known
0:53:22 > 0:53:27'as the International Centre For Brewing And Distilling, or ICBD.'
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Welcome, first year brewers and distillers.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33This is your first kind of congregual meeting together in one room,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36and to have you make your first whisky.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38We're going to do two distillations today -
0:53:38 > 0:53:40we're going to be doing a stripping run,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43and all we're doing in the stripping run is stripping all the alcohol out.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47So we're going to take our raw material, our 8% ABV wash
0:53:47 > 0:53:49and we're going to take all the alcohol out
0:53:49 > 0:53:52and turn it into yet another raw material.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54Have a smell and pass it around.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00It's an interesting blend of science, as well as craft,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03because there are still many mysteries in the whisky industry we don't know about.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06So there's things going on in the still, chemical reactions,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09interactions between different chemicals inside the still,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12as well as in the maturation process in the cask.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16So, I've always been a bit of a science kind of geek, if you will.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Basically it's an interesting combination of science,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22then combined with that slight element of mystery and craft,
0:54:22 > 0:54:25that the whisky brings those two elements, or many elements, together.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28So what's the end product of all your work and your research?
0:54:28 > 0:54:32It's to increase the consistency of the product
0:54:32 > 0:54:34without losing any of the romance.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37We recently had a meeting of minds at Holyrood, of all places,
0:54:37 > 0:54:41at the Scottish Parliament, and the SWA, the Scotch Whisky Association,
0:54:41 > 0:54:45the people who look after what is Scotch whisky.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47And one of the key takeaway points that struck a chord with me
0:54:47 > 0:54:50was the fact that there is an ageing demographic
0:54:50 > 0:54:52in the distilling industry.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56Here at the ICBD we specialise in providing the young blood for the industry.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Note that in my notebook, fill out all the relevant,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01truly exciting paperwork.
0:55:01 > 0:55:02It's time to make your mind up time.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05I'm going to offer you... You've got four different options.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08You've got European oak,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12which is going to be your sherry cask-alike...
0:55:12 > 0:55:15'Just as a distiller must choose which type of oak barrel to use
0:55:15 > 0:55:20'for maturation, the students are offered a selection of wood samples.'
0:55:20 > 0:55:23..all the exciting things that help to add the other notes
0:55:23 > 0:55:27around the distillate...into the distillate we're making today.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30So of all of the tools in the distiller's armoury,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33it's the distiller's nose that is one of the most powerful tools
0:55:33 > 0:55:35at their disposal.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37Think about what you're actually smelling.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41'Putting the new spirit into a makeshift glass and oak barrel
0:55:41 > 0:55:44'was left to a refined, more senior student.'
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Well, a historic moment has been had. Thank you very much for doing the honours.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56All we need to do is put this on here,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59and then commence some very fiddly,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02fiddlesome screwing-on techniques,
0:56:02 > 0:56:07and we have our first-ever freshers' whisky,
0:56:07 > 0:56:11ready to be opened in three years and one day.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15So thank you very much for coming and spending the time with me,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18and it's taken a little bit of work to get everything together
0:56:18 > 0:56:20all at the same time.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Thank you for sharing the experience and I hope to be around
0:56:23 > 0:56:27when you guys crack her open and we can toast the dram together.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46I'm probably too young to remember my first whiskies,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49because I think it was used for my first teeth.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52The honest answer is no, I can't.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55It's lost in the mysteries of time.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57The whisky was Ballantine's.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01I was quite young, because my dad used to make me hot toddies,
0:57:01 > 0:57:03but he used make me hot toddies with Macallan whisky
0:57:03 > 0:57:05cos that was his favourite drink.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09It's one of those weird things, to me that was what whisky tasted like,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12and I remember being at a friend's house when I must have been
0:57:12 > 0:57:16about 11 or 12, and her grandfather deciding that I could play
0:57:16 > 0:57:19with his grandchild because my father drank good whisky.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24My first taste of whisky was with my grandmother in Inverurie,
0:57:24 > 0:57:30when she gave me a little thimbleful of Glengarry, eight years old.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33This would have been in 1977
0:57:33 > 0:57:36and I was only eight years old.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39I think it must have been at New Year,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43because that's the only time we ever had whisky in the house,
0:57:43 > 0:57:49and I think probably my grandfather insisted when I was 15 or 16
0:57:49 > 0:57:55that I should have a wee dram and not be put off with a sherry.
0:58:02 > 0:58:03'When my journey continues,
0:58:03 > 0:58:08'I'll be visiting Islay to find out how landscape affects Scotch,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'taking the water of life on Speyside,
0:58:10 > 0:58:12'Scotland's whisky republic,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16'examining the booming markets of investment and collection,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19'learning inside tales of wealthy connoisseurs
0:58:19 > 0:58:24'and revealing the marketing magic which sells Scotch, and Scotland,
0:58:24 > 0:58:25'to the world.'