Opening the Case with Justine Hazelhurst - The story behind the infamous Pattison Brothers


Episode Artwork
1.0x
0% played 00:00 00:00
Mar 19 2025 107 mins   3

This week, we welcomed back Justine Hazlehurst, co-founder and organiser of the Fife Whisky Festival, to talk about the success of this year’s festival, which took place over three whisky-filled days in March.


Our conversation sparked an interesting debate—should Fife become its own independent whisky region in Scotland? With the growing number of Fife whisky distilleries and the success of the Fife Whisky Festival, the idea is certainly worth exploring!


But Justine wasn’t just here to talk about the festival—she’s also just written and published a whisky book, and it’s one that dives deep into one of the most infamous events in Scotch Whisky history: The Pattison Crash of the 1890s.


The Pattison Brothers have made frequent appearances on the podcast, but Justine has uncovered the full, fascinating story in her new book, Opening the Case: Opening The Case: The Affairs of Pattisons' Whisky.


Their shady accounting practices, lavish spending, and African Grey parrots trained to advertise their whisky nearly brought Scotch Whisky to its knees.


This episode is packed with whisky history, Fife Whisky, whisky scandals, and plenty of great chat.


Enjoy! 🥃📖🔥


Where to buy the book -


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.