I am writing this on the plane home to New Zealand. But my Substack today takes place in Scotland, Nashville — and in Madrid.

WHISKY

We went to the Old Poultney Distillery on the Isle of Skye to see the process of making the powerful elixir of life, whisky. I already knew this would remind me of the process of building a character. Distilling whisky is not an instant magic, and neither is devising a new identity. In both spirit and craft meet to create something special.

But there was a surprise ingredient in store.

The most important ingredient in distilling a spirit is time — plus the 3 basic ingredients of any whisky: Oats, yeast and water.

What I did not know is that there's another vital ingredient in the creation of a great whisky. It is the charred white oak of the barrel. The maturing spirit spends up to 18 years inside these barrels — and it is the colour and flavour of the barrel that slowly enriches the colour and flavour of the distilled clear alcohol.