Blair Bowman enjoys a new whisky travelogue

Blair Bowman may be an expert on all things whisky, but he still takes pleasure in others enjoying a dram

You may be interested to know that Amazon Prime, Amazon.com’s video streaming service, has recently launched a new four part series on Scotch whisky.

It is fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously and is pretty informative too.

The Three Drinkers: Do Scotch is hosted by Colin HampdenWhite, Aidy Smith and Helena Nicklin. The trio are friends and wine experts, however Colin is also a well kent face in the whisky industry, having recently left the role of editor at Whisky Quarterly magazine.

Each episode is filmed in a different area of Scotland, from Dufftown to Islay, with the final episode focussing on London and whisky cocktails. Each programme covers different aspects of the whisky making process, dotted throughout this are short segments where our hosts also try out well known, or some might say stereotypically ‘Scottish’ things like deep fried Mars bars, visiting a Highland games, and the like.

Each segment is usually segued with the three of them in their Land Rover chatting about whisky, or more often than not with Aidy and Helena trying to beat-box and rap about whisky. It seems slightly odd at first, but as a viewer you are left in no doubt that they are genuinely enjoying their travels.

I was very impressed by how clearly they make a point of ensuring the viewer is aware which one of the presenters is the designated driver at any one time. Visiting distilleries in Scotland is always a challenge due to the long distances between them and many are only accessible by car as the public transport offering in rural areas leaves much to be desired. So, whenever they are offered a whisky at a distillery, or in a bar, they always make a point of highlighting who the designated driver is. In days gone by this would not have been seen as being of great import, but thankfully it is nowadays.

The presenters could have easily had production crew drive them from location to location to shoot, but they obviously made a conscious decision to ensure the programme remains true to its travelogue of the three friends format. You do often feel a bit sorry for the desi, who is missing out on some absolutely exceptional whiskies, however towards the end of every episode when they arrive at their destination for the night they can park the car and all have a drink.

It is an interesting move for Amazon to have taken on this series about Scotch whisky but it does a fantastic job of debunking a lot of the myths and hearsay around the drink. It is estimated that the series will be available to around 250 million people around the world through Amazon Prime’s streaming service.

Colin, the whisky expert of the trio, does a really fine job of explaining some quite complex things to his friends. It is also useful that Aidy and Helena have less whisky experience as they will often ask Colin questions that the viewer at home is probably also wondering about.

I certainly hope that The Three Drinkers do some more drinking. It is a nice format for a show. I wonder if it might be wine next, or beer. Personally I’d like to see The Three Drinkers do sherry.

I’m delighted to have noticed that it seems that there is a bit of a surge in television and film content being produced about Scotch whisky at the moment. I’ve recently been interviewed for a couple of soon to be released films and television programmes focussing on whisky.

The Glasgow Film Festival recently announced that a new feature length film, Scotch: The Golden Dram, will premiere at this year’s festival. The film focuses on the story of Jim McEwan, the former master distiller at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay. All of this is surely excellent news as it brings the stories, landscapes and culture of Scotch whisky to a much wider audience. Wine typically has had much more television, film and documentary coverage in the past so it is really exciting to see whisky steal the limelight for a change.

It would be great to see more drinks-focussed content on streaming services or on our televisions in general. There is clearly an audience for it.

Food programmes are still incredibly popular and seem to dominate the airwaves, but more fun, factual and interesting film content on the drinks industry would definitely be well received and could do a lot to boost consumer interest, especially in more niche drinks categories.

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I certainly hope The Three Drinkers do some more drinking. It is a nice format for a show