The term “handcrafted” gets
thrown around a lot these days. It’s become
a movement – a trend, that can obscure the
passionate folks who actually make amazing
things by hand. Their remarkable stories need
to be told and I’m going to find them.
I'm Anthony Bourdain, and this is “Raw Craft.”
There is no place in the world like
Scotland
– the landscape, the pace, the silence.
This is where single malt scotch
whisky is made. A tradition honed to a science
by hundreds of years of experience. But also
one that will forever remain to me shrouded in mystery.
The Balvenie Distillery, located
in Dufttown, has been keeping this tradition alive
since 1892.
Specifically, in the hands of the
men and women who have worked there, often
over many generations. And when I had the
chance to grab a pint with them at the local
pub, I knew it was going to be a special evening
with a typical gang of Scots who are quick
to laugh and difficult to understand.
But don't be fooled, this particular group is comprised of some of the most serious whisky-makers in Scotland.
Wow. That might require whisky.
What is the perfect time of day to drink whisky?
Okay, it’s like the best possible scenario.
I prefer a whisky before a meal because it sets you up for the meal.
Yeah, it gives you an appetite, [absolutely].
Gives you an appetite.
It’s nice to share a whisky
with your friends because it [opens] up conversation,
you know. Start in the mornin’ finish up
at bedtime.
Is what you guys do – is it a profession? Is it an art? Is it a craft?
It’s a craft.
Craft, I would say.
The great cathedrals of France were
– were designed by artists, but they were
built by craftsmen.
And Balvenie’s still basically the same – it’s made by craftsmen.
It’s a craft all the way through. Right
through to the cooper making sure that the
barrel [holds in for the dedicated time that
it’s supposed to be].
They tell me that 60 to 70 percent of the flavor of whisky comes from its barrel.
So let’s start with Ian, head cooper, in his 46th year of service.
When it comes to building and maintaining barrels, Ian’s the best at what he does.
This basic design, this basic construction,
how far back does this go?
It’s a way back to about the Egyptian time.
Egyptian times. Well, as I like
to say, when you have a really good idea,
it’s good forever. I’m guessing you’re
the fastest at this in the, uh –
Well, I used to be. They used to call
me the Mini Cooper S.
I’m now only the Mini Cooper, a wee bit slower.
Nice work. It’s a thing of beauty.
Is whisky science or magic?
Magic.
Oh, it’s magic? In spite of all your experience, in spite of the fact that
you know how to – things are made, you say
it’s still magic.
It’s still magic. Because you do it one cask from the next. The cask,
that’s where you get all your flavors and
your color from is the wood.
There’s still a bit of mystery with whisky production.
There is mystery.
They don’t know it all, yet.
That’s the magic bit though.
Ian’s right. There’s no one cask the same as another, so that they’re
all subtly different.
I’ve seen letters from people who’ve
bought it complaining because they bought
another bottle and it’s not the same.
I can say with some degree of confidence that Dennis is the first coppersmith
I ever met, and it’s possible he’ll be
the last. It’s a craft that’s growing
more rare by the day. And it’s certainly
an exception to find a coppersmith on staff
at a distillery. Dennis has been with the
company for more than 55 years. His ears have
become so finely tuned he can tell by the
sound of the metal
if it needs attention or not.
There’s elements of physics, engineering,
metallurgy, and chemistry involved in what you're doing.
You have to understand what’s
happening to this piece of metal as it’s
subjected to heat.
Yeah. You have to understand when you heat copper, especially when you’re
welding – welding the parts together – it
continually moves.
Whenever you heat it, it’s going to change.
Right. Why copper? Why not stainless
steel?
Well, it’s a great conductor
of heat. If you heat it you can eventually
manipulate it into any kind of shape you want.
But it all comes with experience.
You learn the best way to deal with it.
You’re learning all the time.
You’re learning all the time through it.
You never stop learning.
And you take pride in your work, that’s the most important thing.
I will agree with you there, Dennis. If you get somebody in and they have no pride
in their work, they have no place working
with us guys. They have no place. They have
no place. You’ve got to have pride in your
work. It doesn't matter what you’re doing.
Brian has served many years as a
mash man. You know, the guy who nurtures the
milled barley through the important stages
of mashing and fermentation.
Without the mash man, there’s no whisky.
The malt is now strained out before it goes in here?
That’s correct, yes, yes.
So you’ve got – it’s basically malty, sugary water –
Correct.
– that is fermenting? It’s?
It’s fermenting, yes.
Now, as I recall from high school
chemistry class, these little things are releasing
C02, is that right –
Yes.
into the air? So if you were
to seal this tightly, with no way for the
air to escape, you would essential be creating a giant explosive device.
Boom. It creates a experience
in here.
Yeah, that’s it. You’ve got it. You’ve
got it, yes. It hits you like that.
Has anyone ever fallen in there?
No, no, no.
Not yet.
Not yet.
Could I swim in it without burning my skin off?
Yes, you could.
You could have a nice hot tub or a Jacuzzi.
Yes, yes.
Little health club for the employees.
Brian’s warmth and humor are representative
of everyone I met at the distillery.
They took their job seriously, but they never took themselves too seriously.
Cheers.
Cheers. Cheers, gentlemen.
I gotta tell you, the cheese in
Scotland is one of the great joys here.
Yes.
Scotland does not have the best
reputation for its – for its health as far
as what they eat.
Too much minced pie. Too much fat – animal fat.
Too much deep-fried food.
Deep-fried food.
But you deep fry things so well – so well. What do you guys eat on your
day off?
Just plain food. Basically mince and tatties, stovies, fish.
Beef minced up, just chopped up, minced up.
Right.
Boiled potatoes and a vegetable.
So that’s your choice. What will you eat?
Homemade broth, boiling beef, and
an old-fashioned skirlie and tatties.
Okay, what is that?
Well, Scotch broth, clear soup with vegetables: leeks, carrots, tatties, onions.
Boil it in your soup.
Boiled potatoes.
You’re all eating like it’s still the Great Depression, I mean.
Finest thing you can eat.
But it’s healthy.
The war is over, guys. Have a steak.
That’s Matthew, a malt man. He’s a relative newcomer compared to the rest of
these guys, but he’s already put in some
serious toil in hopes to make his way up the ladder,
just like his father did before him.
Apprenticing under another Balvenie stalwart,
Robbie Gormley, Matthew is slowly learning
the traditions of the craft, absorbing generations
of knowledge.
Okay, this is the kiln fire.
Oh, yeah. It’s nice and warm.
Keep the temperature.
Okay. And where does the – the malt, itself, go?
The malt itself is directly up there.
Ah. So – so this is all just the heat source.
This is just the heat source to dry it going up. And over there we have a peat smoker.
There’s a hint of peat in the Balvenie.
Look, I don't want to tell you your business, but, you know,
you could throw like a pig in there. You could put like steam room in here.
A steam room.
Hot – do some hot tubbin,’ pizza.
Pizza, all right
I mean, as long as you got this amazing fire going.
This is one of six working maltings now in Scotland.
And here it is dried down.
It’s been newly turned this morning.
It’s a vented floor at the bottom.
I see. So the heat is just rising through there.
It rises through the grating.
So you have to just keep – like coffee roasting, you gotta keep it moving
or the beans burn.
Yep. Done twice a day.
My daughter’s favorite thing for her birthday is Yorkshire pudding.
Any time I make Yorkshire pudding and it works,
that’s magic. Whisky: magic or science?
Science. I would use the word art. It’s an art form, I think. We do use our
laboratories to analyze our whisky. So we’re
the final say in any – whether whisky can
be bottled to go ahead actually it rests on
the malt master’s nose.
Oh, and there’s this guy: David Stewart, the malt master,
now in his 6th decade guiding this ship. He’s a whisky legend at the very apex of the industry.
With the olfactory nerves of a bloodhound,
he’s nosed and shepherded over 400,000 casks
through maturity and into the bottle, making incredible, groundbreaking whiskies
along the way.
What is that menacing looking thing? What
happens in there?
Well, that’s – that’s a tun. That’s the new tun 1509. It’s me
making up this in the sample room first using a lot of aged whisky.
From different years.
From different years. So inside this
tun is Batch 2 of 1509. So, I’m really the
only person who’s actually tasted this.
Not for long,
And you’re the second person to actually
taste this. We’ve got whisky in here from
the ‘70s, the ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Because there’s only that much. That’s it.
That’s it. That’s for the whole world. That’s it. That’s about maybe
8,000 bottles, or something, to do pretty
much the whole world.
You ever screw one up? You ever
like a whole tun and you’re like, “Man,
that was a really bad idea.”
Well, no, not yet.
Not yet. Well, cheers to that. Well,
we’ll see. We’ll see how this works.
Okay.
Ooh, that’s good. Whoa.
So, it’s quite creamy and sweet – very smooth and easy to drink.
You’ve got to be pretty happy with this.
I’m quite happy with it, yeah.
Nice.
But what about my pizza idea, guys?
I think it’s a really –
If you come to cook the pizzas we’ll – we’ll help you eat it.
Okay, lads, I don't know about you, but I have enjoyed the evening and I’ve
got a little surprise to finish off with.
Gosh.
Wow.
[Famous dog].
The famous dog. This is what people
would use for illegally removing whisky.
They would hide it down their trouser leg, tie it to their belt.
Now you tell me. I’ve already taken the distillery tour. I could have used
that earlier.
Dennis: That’s actually a one-half inch
shell from the second World War –
Wow.
– that somebody – ooh, it’s leaking.
It’s leaking. There must be something in it.
So, there we are.
Thank you, gentlemen. Cheers.
Cheers.
Good health.
There’s more than meets the eye
with these guys. Each one excelling in their
craft and working as one,
day in and day out, with passion and pride to create some of the best whisky in the world.
These are the kind of people I love:
carrying on traditions with rare skills engrained in the muscles of their hands.
And just like every craftsperson I met across America,
they’re never in it for the money or glory. They just love what they do.
These are the crazies. These are the folks who do things the old school way, the stupid way.
And what they do is who they are and they are completely fine with that.
I’m Anthony Bourdain and this is “Raw Craft.”
