Topic: A Sip of Knowledge with Charles MacLean & Ross Morrison

Hosts: Liz Rhoades, Lew Bryson, & Martin Duffy

About Charles MacLean:

Charles MacLean has been writing about Scotch whisky since 1981, and has published seventeen books on the subject. He was the founding editor of Whisky Magazine and foreign editor of Whisky (Russia); writes regularly for several international magazines and websites and is a frequent commentator on TV and radio. He was chief presenter of the TV channel singlemalt.tv and starred in Ken Loach’s film The Angels Share, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

In 2009 he was elected Master of the Quaich, in 2012 won the IWSC’s ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’, in 2016 was inducted into the Whisky Hall of Fame and in 2020 was awarded the Hurun Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to UK-China Relations (Services to Whisky Promotion in China)’.

About Ross Morrison:

Ross has been in the Whisky Industry for over 17 years, primarily constructing maturation bonds for numerous Distilleries all over Scotland. Ross has always had a keen interest in Whisky, both in the making and the drinking! While building maturation bonds for various clients, their complaint regarding the Angels’ Share was always the same. They were perplexed! Ross had an exciting idea to reduce the losses incurred during maturation and with the help of his Team, ‘The Scotch Bonnet’ was born.  

The Scotch Bonnet is a specifically-designed ‘Cap’ that is placed on top of palletised spirit barrels and significantly reduces the evaporation losses by 50%! The Scotch Bonnet is now fighting the war against the Angels in Distilleries all around the Globe, including, but not limited to – Jack Daniels, Distell, Cazcanes Tequila, White & Mackay, Brew Dog Distilling & Co, and enlightening many more daily. 

What You’ll Learn: Join a trio of drink industry veterans in weekly conversation on whiskey, spirits, distilling, marketing, and the current state of the drink industry. This week, Charles MacLeon (whisky author) and Ross Morrison (founder of The Scotch Bonnet) join the group.

About the Hosts: 

• Liz Rhoades, founder of Spirit Safe Consulting, former research scientist for DIAGEO, distilling consultant, spirits writer for The Whiskey Wash & presenter.

• Lew Bryson, former managing editor for Whisky Advocate Magazine for 20 years, whiskey author, beer/whiskey writer and presenter.

• Martin Duffy, former DIAGEO Master of Whisky for the Midwest, DIAGEO Reserve Brand Ambassador for The Republic of Ireland, North American Brand Representative for Glencairn Crystal.