I’ll be honest, I’m no whisky connoisseur. My father was from Scotland and enjoyed a ‘good whisky’ and a quick swig from one his treasured single malts at a young age was enough to put me off for many years. The last time I partook in a drop was at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2014 when Jim Sutherland picked up Composer of the Year and he insisted I join him in a dram – it was a 12-Year-old Glenfiddich single malt whisky and I’m pretty sure Neil Mcfadyen offered to help finish it (my glass, not the bottle). It wasn’t enough to convince me I’d been missing out but…
…having just watched a video of Glaswegian spirits writer Dave Broom talk about his passion for spirits I couldn’t help but feel that maybe I had been missing out. Not just in the taste, but in knowledge and in genuine stories, not just the marketing rubbish we get fed.
Clearly, there’s a lot more to whisky than most people give it credit for (and I include myself here) but there is something on the horizon that may well change this (in awareness at least) and I encourage you all to get behind this project and give it your support.
Dave Broom is using crowdfunding to raise a substantial part of the cost of filming a road trip documentary, exploring that untold story of whisky and Scottish culture. Naturally, music will play a part in this, how can it not, and they’ve picked some fine Scottish musicians and singers to feature music from including King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts, James Yorkston, Rachel Newton (plus more to be announced) as well as Avante-Garde noisemakers and poetry collective Neu Reekie. Also joining them will be Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin who I know has a fine taste in music (it often plays a central role in his novels) and he’s written a brilliant appreciation for King Creosote in the liner notes of a remastered special edition version KC Rules OK (2006) and more recently on Blue Rose Code’s The Water Of Leith. He also knows his whisky.
In collaboration with online food and drink magazine The Gannet – Dave is aiming to raise £40,000 through the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform by April 7th. So far over 111 backers (112 now since I added my support) have pledged more than £33,000 via the website.
Called The Amber Light, the documentary will highlight the lesser known parts of Scottish culture and history through the lens of whisky, with personalities from art, music, literature and food.
Dave Broom, who has been writing about spirits for 25 years, will travel the length and breadth of Scotland talking to key innovators and thinkers in the whisky world – farmers, distillers, bar owners and historians – as well as people less directly involved: musicians, artists and writers. Among the film’s contributors will be Scottish crime writer and “king of the Tartan Noir” Ian Rankin, who will talk about the “darkness in the Scottish soul”. Musicians Alasdair Roberts, James Yorkston will be performing on screen.
The film will explore the unsung role of women in distilling and blending over the centuries, the influence of alchemists, medicine men and botanists, and the evolution of spirits from medicine to social lubricants. The documentary will also look at the temperance movement, smugglers, Dante’s Inferno, and the use of unexpected ingredients in whisky’s development, such as saffron.
Filming will take place over the summer with screenings of the documentary in November and the premiere of the finished film expected in January 2019.
Dave Broom, whisky writer and presenter, said: “There’ll be contradictory opinions — so we will be talking about whisky’s dark side as well as whisky’s light side; talking about the completely forgotten role that women have always played in distillation and whisky-making as well, so we’ll be trying to redress some of the balances and some of the misconceptions as well that I think have sprung up around whisky — it’s not all about tartan and shortbread.”
Adam Park, producer director, added: “This is a hugely exciting project with the world’s foremost expert on whisky. We realised there’s a much greater and weirder story to tell about whisky and the culture that’s built up over the centuries. Music and storytelling will be key components.
“All those who pledge money, from as little as £25, for the documentary will receive various rewards. It’s full steam ahead. We’ve already assembled an incredibly talented and dedicated team, both on screen and off, and there’s people joining every week.”
Head to Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1186204465/the-amber-light
Below is the short documentary which inspired me to get behind this project – Dave Broom on his whisky epiphany, uncovering the secrets of the industry and the joys of mixing Lagavulin and Coke.