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The Water of Life - A Whisky Film

The craftsmen, chemists, and renegades who saved scotch whisky and ignited a single malt revolution

My Whisky Education

Blog - by Greg Swartz

13 Jan

When we set out to make this film, I went on a personal mission to seriously educate myself on the history of and the craftsmanship of whisky. I wasn’t a newbie or anything, but if I was going to direct this film, I had to go a lot deeper. I read about distillation. I read about history. I read about the excise men and the tax laws. I read about the advertising. 

And then… I worked at a distillery for a week. 

When Liam Hughes at the Glasgow Distillery learned about our project, he not only agreed to participate, he invited me to come and work there for a week. I JUMPED at the chance. I got myself some steel-toed boots and a hi-viz vest and I was off to the races. 

Each day I did a different job there: I helped mash in. I helped fill wash backs. I helped make gin. I ran the stills. And then I learned a bit about coopering from their in-house cooper Shug McMurray. Shug is now my spirit animal. 

I loved coopering, but I learned enough about it that my main takeaway was that I didn’t want to do it. It’s a hard craft to master… and it’s just plain hard. 

If you ever want to learn all about whisky, read all the books you can.  But also really try to find a way to work in a distillery for a bit. You won’t regret it.

On the afternoon of the final day, I filled casks. I filled 12 casks to be precise. And they were filled with spirit that I had helped to craft throughout the week. And now I own one of those casks. How cool is that? 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michael Grom says

    January 15, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    What a great job you’ve done! Thank you soo much for this wonderful film about the greatest „water“ of life!! I already watched it twice and fell in love with it. I love the wonderful sceneries but mostly the great stories you or better these men tell. I fell in lone white their voices. I truly love good single malt whiskey and now I will enjoy even more. I am also a cigar lover for more than 25 years now and we have a nice cigar-friends (sort of club). We already visited Scotland twice and last time my dad could be with me. We used to go on connoisseur trips (only 4-5 days) yearly and we (the cigar friends Rastatt/Karlsruhe) are together now for more than 15 years. I now enjoy some sips of the “Classic Laddie” (Edition 1) together with a nice Wide Churchill (R&J) / again THANKS for
    Something that will last forever !!!!! Mic (Germany, Karlsruhe)

  2. Greg W. Swartz says

    January 18, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    thanks so much! hope we can have a dram with you sometime sooner than later.

  3. Derek mather says

    January 24, 2021 at 7:52 am

    Was a great film and a joy to watch
    Also good to see bottles from Artisan Restaurant and Laddie Snug in the film 🥃🥃
    Can’t wait for the dvd

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