Whisky Voices: Sukhinder Singh

This interview is part of my ongoing “Whisky Voices” series, where I sit down with leading voices in the whisky world, from distillers and writers to ambassadors and innovators, to capture their unfiltered thoughts on heroes, villains, surprises, trends, and wishes.

This time around I’ve sat down with Sukhinder Singh, co-owner of Elixir Distillers, Tormore Distillery, and the soon-to-open Portintruan Distillery on Islay. Formerly the co-founder of The Whisky Exchange, Sukhinder is one of the most influential figures in modern whisky. His answers to my five questions reflect the depth, honesty, and perspective that have defined his career.

Whisky Hero

For Sukhinder, the role of the blender deserves far more recognition than it actually does, and one name stands above the rest: Jim Beveridge.

“Jim Beveridge, a blender at Johnnie Walker, Diageo. Because people don’t realise that even single malts are blends,” he explained. “You’re putting so many different casks together. People think blending is a negative word, but actually, it’s the most difficult job in the world.

Making whisky is easy. But putting whisky together, choosing which casks to marry so you can create beautiful flavours, that’s really, really difficult.”

It’s a powerful reminder that blending is at the heart of every great whisky (well, excepting the single cask releases, but you know what I mean”).

Whisky Villain

Sukhinder didn’t name a company or a person, but a practice he believes is often mishandled: the use of wine casks.

“I think wine casks are often too active,” he said. “Even transporting them from the country where they’re used to the distillery is risky. They can spoil if they’re not handled carefully. Once the wine is removed, bacteria can start forming straight away.

New World wines are often very fruit-led; Old World wines are more tannic and structured, needing time and wood. They don’t always work well with whisky. Pairing the right cask with the right spirit is crucial. Putting wine casks with a light whisky is a complete waste of time. You kill it! Bigger, richer, oilier whiskies can work better, but even then, you have to balance how you use those casks.”

Whisky Surprise

One of Sukhinder’s biggest surprises has been the evolution of English whisky. “I had a very negative view of English whisky,” he admitted. “A lot of new English distilleries started up but weren’t doing anything different. They have more flexibility than Scotland, but no one was using it.

Now, finally, I’m seeing younger distilleries, maybe five or six years old, doing a really good job. I’m proud and pleased that some great things are happening in England.”

He pointed to White Peak Distillery as an example. “They’re based in Derbyshire, near Burton-upon-Trent, a town famous for beer. They decided to use beer yeast alongside distillers’ yeast, which is old-school in Scotland, but they did it for local reasons. The result is good, clean, delicious, textural whiskies.”

Whisky Trend

Sukhinder’s thoughts on trends were as much a critique as an observation.

“Innovation. I don’t like the word,” he said plainly. “One of the big problems in the industry is that when a company’s whisky doesn’t sell, Marketing comes along and says, We must innovate. They don’t know what they have in their base liquid. Their standard bourbon-cask whisky is delicious, their sherry-cask whisky is delicious, but still they’re trying to innovate.

I won’t name names, but one company has a really good core range. Every year they release a series of different wood finishes, and for me, most of them are awful. One or two are okay, but the core range is delicious, and they don’t push it hard enough.

For me, true innovation sometimes means going back to old-school. Making simple, clean whisky. I miss simple, clean whisky. Especially bourbon casks. A lot of big companies are chasing sherry, wood finishes, bigger, richer, heavier flavours. And I miss elegant, fruity, easy-drinking, delicious whisky.”

Whisky Wish

“For us, we’re now distillers, soon two distilleries up and running, and we have a lot to prove and a lot to learn,” he said. “My wish is that we achieve all our dreams of making really good whisky.”

A simple wish, but from one of the industry’s most respected figures, it carries weight. As Portintruan prepares to join the ranks of Islay’s storied distilleries, it’s a journey worth watching.

Sláinte!
- Thomas