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.
Katie grew up just around the corner from the distillery Rutherglen and had a unique circular journey. She’d grown up with foreign exchange students staying in her home, so she developed a love of languages, so she spent a year of school in Malaga, Spain, and her...
Claragh grew up on the farm, which turned into a distillery. “The distillery used to be the barn where we kept the animals. I spent my time growing up with the animals and my siblings here. Then we turned it into a gymnasium with basketball courts and then it became...
When you ask Jethro where he’s from, he pauses. For a long time, he pauses. And when he explains his journey, you understand the pause. “I lived in a depressing, dying town west of London until I was eighteen, and I left as soon as I could.” He spent several years in...
Jackton, Scotland, is just south of Glasgow and is in one of the wettest and most fertile places on earth. You’ll get wet in the middle of summer, but that rain allows Jackton to use its own water that no other distillery on earth can use. “Our wells are deep, and...
I’ve spent my life immersed in startup culture. Starting in 1994, I was in Austin, Texas with a front row seat to the Tech Boom. And I watched it boom and boom and explode and boom again. I got fired from my first job in an ad agency, working with tech companies, of...
Scottish rain is wonderful because it makes my favorite thing. Water. I love swimming in it, showering in it, looking at it, being on it, and, of course, drinking it. I remember great water all over the world, as well as terrible water. I got stuck overnight in a...
Max has the air of a man who knows stuff. A man who gets things done. If you need to know something about anything at Jackton Distilling, you find Max. He knows how to fix it, where to find it, or how it works. No operation can be an operation without someone like...
Jackton Distillery is a family-owned distillery just south of Glasgow that makes single malt and blended Scotch, as well as vodka and gin. The grounds are beautiful and I'll be staying there during the month of August, working with the family and crew and writing...