Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Is it trite to say things change quickly in whisky? Probably. We know it does.
But to pause and take note of what's changing and how it’s changing is pretty interesting to me. For example; thinking about those distilleries we might, individually, consider Rising Stars.
Back in 2021 we covered this angle and I put forward four producers I felt were deserving of more of my own personal time. By extension, I suppose, as host of the vPub I was saying they deserved more of your personal time too. Many of you, of course, were already there - ahead of me as always. But it's fun to look at who those four were back then and consider where they are now.
They were:
Loch Lomond
Glenturret
Glencadam
Benromach
Wow. Not too shabby. I'd say all four of these are today, in 2024, very much part of the whisky botherer's lexicon. Perhaps with the exception of those that have been priced too highly, they all remain very much celebrated. Harking back to the dark days over the first year or two of the pandemic they were perhaps only playing in the periphery of our exploration field. Maybe I’m just speaking about myself again, but on we trudge.
These days, I have a healthy selection of Glenturret, but Glencadam, Benromach and certainly Loch Lomond have the shelves sagging, and it delights me. They’re some of my most reached-for treats.
Now, please don't read this as any kind of prediction skills or that I have an ability to sense the next cool thing, it's not that and you know it isn't. What it is is shedding light on the distilleries that are just starting to ‘catch’, those that are setting the heather alight and bringing us the things that can keep our road ahead lit with excitement as other brands traipse down the luxury goods aisle after some of that sweet, sweet, frivolous and plentiful seam of endless deep pockets.
As usual, as they abandon the invested drinker-thinker, in steps another sure-footed and impassioned player to take up the space they leave in their wake.
Be it a renaissance story, a new distillery or a completely new country, there are always new things appearing to keep us excited and engaged.
It's been over two years since we touched this, I guarantee what we'll discuss is very different from back then, just as it'll likely be very different in another two years from now.
Who are your Rising Stars?
I really hope to welcome you there!
The Dramface Top 40 Vote : dramface.com/dramface-top-40
0:00 - Opening
2:07 - Brief Intro to topic
5:50 - Too much booze (at times?)
8:35 - Welcoming in the lounge
20:12 - How I committed
21:46 - The Echo-chamber
25:12 - The Rise of Ardnamurchan
34:34 - The 2021 List
44:05 - A Sassenach - White Peak (Wireworks)
50:42 - The global 'Rising Star' effect
55:32 - The 'Ignored' Local - Glasgow 1770
1:09:20 - A Shout out for Clydeside
1:16:38 - The 'rejuvenation' of Fettercairn
1:39:23 - Lagg - Completely different!
1:59:05 - The Steady Climber - Kingsbarns
2:16:28 - In summary - Other Rising Stars?
2:22:28 - Quiz at the End
Doug Clement's Channel : Dream to Dram youtube.com/@DreamtoDram
Is it trite to say things change quickly in whisky? Probably. We know it does.
But to pause and take note of what's changing and how it’s changing is pretty interesting to me. For example; thinking about those distilleries we might, individually, consider Rising Stars.
Back in 2021 we covered this angle and I put forward four producers I felt were deserving of more of my own personal time. By extension, I suppose, as host of the vPub I was saying they deserved more of your personal time too. Many of you, of course, were already there - ahead of me as always. But it's fun to look at who those four were back then and consider where they are now.
They were:
Loch Lomond
Glenturret
Glencadam
Benromach
Wow. Not too shabby. I'd say all four of these are today, in 2024, very much part of the whisky botherer's lexicon. Perhaps with the exception of those that have been priced too highly, they all remain very much celebrated. Harking back to the dark days over the first year or two of the pandemic they were perhaps only playing in the periphery of our exploration field. Maybe I’m just speaking about myself again, but on we trudge.
These days, I have a healthy selection of Glenturret, but Glencadam, Benromach and certainly Loch Lomond have the shelves sagging, and it delights me. They’re some of my most reached-for treats.
Now, please don't read this as any kind of prediction skills or that I have an ability to sense the next cool thing, it's not that and you know it isn't. What it is is shedding light on the distilleries that are just starting to ‘catch’, those that are setting the heather alight and bringing us the things that can keep our road ahead lit with excitement as other brands traipse down the luxury goods aisle after some of that sweet, sweet, frivolous and plentiful seam of endless deep pockets.
As usual, as they abandon the invested drinker-thinker, in steps another sure-footed and impassioned player to take up the space they leave in their wake.
Be it a renaissance story, a new distillery or a completely new country, there are always new things appearing to keep us excited and engaged.
It's been over two years since we touched this, I guarantee what we'll discuss is very different from back then, just as it'll likely be very different in another two years from now.
Who are your Rising Stars?
I really hope to welcome you there!
The Dramface Top 40 Vote : dramface.com/dramface-top-40
0:00 - Opening
2:07 - Brief Intro to topic
5:50 - Too much booze (at times?)
8:35 - Welcoming in the lounge
20:12 - How I committed
21:46 - The Echo-chamber
25:12 - The Rise of Ardnamurchan
34:34 - The 2021 List
44:05 - A Sassenach - White Peak (Wireworks)
50:42 - The global 'Rising Star' effect
55:32 - The 'Ignored' Local - Glasgow 1770
1:09:20 - A Shout out for Clydeside
1:16:38 - The 'rejuvenation' of Fettercairn
1:39:23 - Lagg - Completely different!
1:59:05 - The Steady Climber - Kingsbarns
2:16:28 - In summary - Other Rising Stars?
2:22:28 - Quiz at the End
Doug Clement's Channel : Dream to Dram youtube.com/@DreamtoDram
