Jackton is the kind of place that reminds you whisky is made by people, not press releases. Tucked just outside Glasgow, it feels less like a distillery and more like a stubborn family project that refused to be rushed or polished into something soulless. You can taste the rain, the patience, and the quiet confidence of folks who aren’t trying to impress anyone. Jackton’s whisky isn’t chasing trends or awards. It’s grounded, honest, and deeply human. The kind of spirit you drink slowly while listening to stories that matter, told by people who were there when the barrels were filled and will still be there when they’re emptied.
The Still Life Stories may be the only project of its kind. It's all about whisky but it's not about whisky. It's about finding the stories behind the people who, at one point in their lives, said to themselves, "Wait a minute, I don't want to do this; I want to quit...
Back in March 2026, I received a strange email from an unknown bloke from Texas called Chris Greta introducing me to his concept that involved him traveling the world to meet interesting people at small distilleries. Nah, not for me, I thought. I did nothing...
I’m staying in a little town in the Central Tasmanian Highlands called Bothwell. It’s not pronounced BothDashWell. It’s pronounced like one might say “Brothel” but without the R. I’m staying in the BoHo, short for Bothwell Hotel while I spend time at several...
Kismet seems to have different meanings in different cultures. I grew up with kismet, meaning a happy accident. Say, you run into an old friend you haven’t seen in years who introduces you to a company that offers you a life-changing job. The literal definition:...
If Peter Bignell wasn’t making whisky on his farm, he’d be a set designer for the Mad Max movies, or building supercolliders out of WWII scrap. I’m so used to visiting distilleries with huge, shiny, and well-polished copper stills. If you’re expecting that and you...
Peter Bignell had a goal. Make a whisky so smoky nobody could drink it, but after aging in the oak, people liked it, and it sold out. So he tried again. This time around, it's smoky, but has great potential. Did he fail? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS3BOj-zl2s
How did Peter Bignell from Belgrove Distillery decide to make award-winning whisky? A 200-year-old water wheel for a grain mill needed fixing, and he was the only guy in town who could fix it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpw6nVZi6A
I've just arrived in Bothwell, Tasmania, and will be spending much of this week at the Belgrove Distillery. It's a rather fascinating place, so keep tuned for the full story...
Jaynie Kean and her sister sold seashells by the seashore to the tourists when they were little… And now she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Or at least the weight of the Jackton Distillery. A family-owned distillery is a very different animal from the...