A new whisky podcast, The Whisky Legends, has launched this week from one the industries oldest families. Recorded with Tim Morrison, whose family have been in the whisky industry since the 1920s and have owned Chivas, Bowmore, Auchentoshen, Glen Garioch and who now owns The Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow and A.D. Rattray, is hosted by his grandson Andy Maxwell (who’s Uncle also owns The Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow and A.D. Rattray).
Andy explains, “It covers the development of the industry from then until now, where we aimed to make sure first-hand knowledge and stories from the early days isn’t lost.”
The series explores how was business done in the 1920s and what the production line looked like before health and safety rules as well as looking at how building a global single malt whisky brand compares in the 1960s to today delivering the answers through the lens of Tim, whose family have been in the spirits industry for over 100 years.
Tim’s Grandfather, William Walker, was a huge exporter of blended whiskies in the early 1900s, and his Father Stanley Morrison joined that business in 1925 as a broker. He eventually grew and set up his own brokering business that would sell Chivas Brother’s to Seagrams and go on to buy and grow Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch distilleries, before selling the business in the 90s to Suntory. We hear first-hand how things have changed in the industry since his Father’s day, from working on the production line in 1960, to building a distillery and growing a whisky brand in the modern day.
Highlights include stories of how business was done before detailed contracts and eagle-eyed lawyers, the issues that arose when the Royal Navy transported new Bowmore boiler and stills to Islay in 1963, The Queen’s visit to the distillery, and who the crucial players were in growing the single malt whisky category so many are infatuated with today.
Tim Morrison, Chairman of The Clydeside Distillery, said, ‘It has often been remarked by friends & family that I should try to record my memories of my time within the whisky industry. It has been emphasised that today a loss of knowledge is one of the greatest risks facing our industry, where there is a pressing need to record history from those who have experienced it and played a part in it.
“Constant persuasion by my grandson Andy Maxwell, a hugely enthusiastic whisky lover, has persuaded me to record my recollections of industry happenings, my lifetime in the industry with my father and his early involvement with my grandfather and the latter years with my brother in Morrison Bowmore Distillers – pieces of whisky history that mark significant moments in a family’s journey, culminating in the birth of the Clydeside Distillery with the next generation of Morrisons.’
Andy Maxwell, host of Whisky Legends, adds, ‘Since I was about 5 years old I have been visiting distilleries on Islay with my Grandad and have heard his incredible stories in and outside of whisky my whole life. Now that I love the spirit itself, and everything that goes with it, I thought it would be criminal to let his wealth of knowledge and stories not be heard by others that love whisky.’
You can find the podcast here