“It’s an extraordinary time in whisky’s history,” says Dave Bloom author of The World Atlas of Whisky;now in its 3rd edition but completely rewritten.

Over 500 distilleries profiled; 480 whiskies sampled. No wonder Dave jokes: “I didn’t have grey hair when I started.”

But why extraordinary?

“Because there’s never been such a period in whisky’s history where so much has been made in so many different styles in so many different countries,” he tells John. “If you think back to whisky’s recent history, the last 100 years or so, essentially it’s been dominated by Scotch and was dominated until very recently by Scotch blends.”

“So the world of whisky essentially belonged to Scotch. And now you have, I would say pretty much every country in the world where distillation is legal, making whisky.”

“There’s probably too much whisky getting made,” he continues. “But if you are a whisky lover, you have never had so much choice.”

But all that whisky presents problems for the industry, and Dave cautions, “There will be casualities.”

Like in Ireland, where the Waterford Distillery collapsed earlier this year.

“It’s this perfect storm, ” he explains. “You have low consumer confidence. You have political issues. You’ve got war. You have a generational shift that’s taking place.”

Still it’s happened before; “essentially every 20 years or so.” But while Dave says there’s “no magic bullet”, he remains optimistic: “Whisky is resilient and whisky always has got out of these problems. And it will take some clever strategies, but it will get out of it.”

Sure young people aren’t drinking traditional drams. And they’re drinking less. But they are drinking highballs and whisky cocktails. Dave’s seen it in his own local whisky bar, Cut Your Wolf Loose in Brighton.

So while he admits he “might have been coming over as some sort of doommonger” in this episode, “there’s a lot of positives out there,” he insists.

And a lot of innovation too. Who’d have thought there would one be at least two whisky distilleries in the Arctic circle or subtropical whiskies from India, China and Taiwan?

That’s “the joy of whisky”, he concludes. “There is always something new coming through the door. And that keeps you alive and that keeps you interested and that keeps the energy going.”

So raise a dram, straight, iced, diluted or mixed, to “Scothland”. 

Slàinte!

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Socials:

@C2GWhisky

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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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