He was born the same day we bought the distillery, and as a five month old baby he had the privilege of filling the first cask on the distillery's opening day back in May 2001. Last week he asked Duncan if he could visit his cask, and on Friday, Adam took him (with Badger, his dog) down to Port Charlotte warehouses to visit cask number one.

It tasted pretty darn good right now but Ruari said he did not want to bottle it until he is 18. Another decade of maturing.

He's going to be a pretty popular boy at university...

The SWA are determined to force The Blanded Malt category upon us all.

The SWA is 60% owned by Diageo & Pernod. It represents 95% of distlling capacity but only a a third of Scottish-based whisky companies. What right does it have to play fast and loose with laws that will impact so heavily on Scotland's heritage and image overseas?

What's wrong with the existing title "Vatted Malt" that is clearly distinguishable in any tongue by both sight and sound from the existing terms "blended whisky" and "single malt".

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It's more like the Mugabe's press department everyday.

Quoted in the Scotsman, the SWA said that the "overwhelming majority of the industry was supportive of the Government's proposals for new Scotch whisky regulations".

Not true. Firstly they are not the government's proposals but the SWA's that the government has been asked to implement. Sure the SWA does represent 95% of the distilling capacity, with 80% of the SWA owned by just 5 companies, the largest of which also provides the Chairman. They probably are rubbing their hands with glee knowing the huge commercial benefits they will enjoy. But SWA members make up only a third of the companies that comprise the whole whisky business, albeit the most powerful.

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