07/04/2023

Chapter 12

A chat with...Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald (Dràm Mòr Group) - #8

Following from last chapter, I thought it would have been very interesting (and almost mandatory) to present another independent spirits bottler lead by a husband and wife team. This time I have chatted with Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald of Dràm Mòr Group Ltd.

Dràm Mòr is is an independent single cask spirits bottler based in Dumbarton, Scotland (Lowland region). Their name means “big whisky” in scottish gaelic, and they indeed deliver big drams to their public.

The company initially started as an export agency for Scottish brands, but following the increasing demand for independent, high-quality whiskies, they decided to join the independent bottling world.

Let’s see what they told us…

Hi Kenny and Viktorija, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Please introduce yourselves, and tell us a little bit about your whisky journey so far.

KM: Dràm Mòr started in 2013 although we only started bottling in 2019. This all started when I took the decision to change career after working for The Food Standard Agency for 17 years. I started by running whisky tastings locally but also went back to the classroom to gain my teaching qualifications so I could deliver courses to bars staff across Scotland. This is the birth of Dràm Mòr.

We then after a visit to Glengoyne Distillery started to operate as export agents working with independent Scotch Whisky distillers.

This not only gave us the chance to get to understand the market place but also while working in a freelance brand ambassadorial role for some of our clients I got to know many distributors across Europe and beyond which would be key to us joining the Indy Bottler ranks.

When and how did you join this growing industry?

KM: It was only in 2019 that we took the decision to take the step into Independent Bottling ourselves. This was after a long look at what the competition were doing out there.

There are some fantastic Indy bottlers out there such as the big established companies like Berry Bros. & Rudd, G&M and Cadenhead’s as well as some great newcomers such as my friend Mark Watt’s Watt Whisky (see Chapter 11) and Alistair Walkers Infrequent Flyers (Chapter to follow soon…!) but there was also far too many bottler who (in my opinion) weren’t really taking the time or care to showcase spirit to the best of their abilities.

We make a point that if a cask or cask finish isn’t excellent we just won’t bottle it. These casks we will sell and some other Indy bottler will bottle it without a thought but at Dràm Mòr good or even very good just isn’t good enough.

That said timing could have been better as with the first bottles coming out at the end of November 2019 we were heading straight into the biggest pandemic in our lifetimes but thankfully we have managed to get to the other side and are now moving from strength to strength.

Now tell us a bit more about Dràm Mòr Group, what is it that makes them stand out in the whisky industry?

KM: Obviously we have joined a sector of the industry that many would see as saturated and to be fair I don’t necessarily disagree with that.

With some of our competition there are great bottlers who know the category and work with the casks, however there are a plethora of operators out there who think all you need to do is buy a cask of whisky and stick it in a bottle. This is such a short sighted view of Indy bottling in my opinion and shows that these folks are there just to make a fast buck rather than looking to showcase what Scotland does best by working with fresh oak and being creative with the styles and flavours that we can create.

Remember that the one thing we should never want to do is to copy and paste what the distilleries do theirselves.

I hope that the passion and love for what we do shines through Dràm Mòr bottlings. The one thing that both Viktorija and I were sure on from the very beginning was that if the spirit wasn’t exceptional then we wouldn’t bottle it. We could have many more outturns each year than we currently do but quality is the key and quite simply if a spirit is “good” or “nice” it isn’t good enough for us.

We want people to look at the Dràm Mòr label not just a brand but as a promise to our customers that what is in that bottle is top quality.

Can you tell us what Dràm Mòr Group's target audience is?

KM: Oh this is an easy one to answer as it is every single whisky lover out there. I have seen over the last ten years that the demographic of who is enjoying our national drink has widened dramatically. When I started, Scotch whisky was predominantly a drink for men of a certain age and also carried a reputation of being a bit aloof.

These days when you view the room at any big whisky festival you will see the amount of participants who are between the ages of 25-35 is sizeable as are the amount of young women who (thankfully) are now getting involved. At the end of the day the men and women who make Scotch whisky make it for all of us to enjoy, not just those of a certain age.

Another advantage of the youngest Scotch whisky drinkers is that these good folks come from generations who are much more informed on what they drink and what they eat so we now have a better educated drinker appearing before us and long may it continue.

Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?

KM: When it comes to cask selection I can tell you that it is getting harder and harder to secure casks at a sensible price that will make them bottle worthy.

It is funny looking back to the beginning where my naivety really shone through as I swore that I would never buy a cask unless I was able to sample it first. If I had stuck to that rule today we would have bought two casks!

Quite simply you don’t get samples unless they are old and very expensive. What we have to do is have a good knowledge of the distilleries and the style of spirit that they produce. Once you understand that you can be guided by that knowledge when buying casks.

Now it is important to know that 95% of casks that we will secure are 2nd refill cask so there is very little colour and flavour coming from what is pretty tired cask although the spirit is great.

This in turn means we need to look at the spirit and decide which style of oak would best showcase the spirit to its very best and for how long the spirit should sit in its new oak. It surprises people all the time when I tell them how short some of the finishes are but it is so important never to allow the oak to overwhelm the spirit.

It’s a two pice jigsaw but surprisingly easy to make a real mess of it!

What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?

KM: The advice would be different to those looking to enter the industry or those who want to start to collect whisky.

For those looking to bottle I would say, take a long look in the mirror and talk yourself out of it for now. This is not the time to be coming on board as the prices of casks and the lack of availability makes life very difficult even for those of us who have established ourselves. I have no doubt that through this present situation we will see a few of the smaller Indy bottlers fall sadly as there just isn’t enough stock out there to ensure that we can all bottle top quality drams.

If you are looking to start off on your whisky collection journey, then the first thing I would say is, don’t do it because you want to be one of these flippers who think that they can make a massive profit on every bottle of whisky they buy by sticking it straight onto an auction site.

If you are going to collect then do it because you are passionate about what you are collecting.

I have a relatively modest collection which Viktorija and I have built over the years and it has been done with the goal of one day having my own whisky room where the entire collection will go up on the shelves for friends and family to enjoy.

Whisky is for sharing after all plus it’s going to make me a very popular guy!

Lastly, what is, generally speaking, your favourite whisky style (cask type, ageing, peated/unpeated etc.)? What’s your dram of choice at the moment and/or your go to drams on a Friday evening?

KM: Great question and one that is difficult to answer to be honest. When it comes to peat smoke I have a love/hate relationship with it all the way through my whisky drinking years with a kind of rollercoaster approach to either being rich up there as the only type of dram followed by a massive dip in my appreciation.

This tends to take about 18 months to go from one extreme to the other but it has always been this way with me. You can tell where I am at any given time by looking at my whisky cupboard and seeing what hasn’t been devoured yet. Strangely no matter where I am on the rollercoaster for some reason Talisker always seems to be there for me bridging the gap. It is very much a go to dram for me especially if I can get a cask strength bottling.

As for casks I have two favourites that I love to play with as well as drink. These are Palo Cortado and White Port.

Palo Cortado is a really interesting cask as it is a Sherry which cannot be made, it just happens! Basically it starts of as a Fino or an Amontillado both of which require the yeast to float on the top of the wine during fermentation. From time to time whoever the yeast sinks although remains active. Nobody can explain why this happens but if it does then the Bodega will call a festival day as they have a Palo Cortado which only makes up between 1%- 2% of all Sherry ever made so you can see that these casks are not that easy to come by.

When it comes to White Port the fruitiness you can draw from these cask is just a joy. In fairness I am a big fan of any Portwood which has been worked well and not allowed to overpower the dram but White Port is just one of these cask that again you don’t see too often but when you do it is just a joy.

That said I always love to keep trying new things so to all of the industry I would ask of them to keep them coming!