In Conversation With: Jonny McMillan & Angus MacRaild, Kythe The Old & Rare whisky category has, in many ways, become a lightning rod for debate. But at its heart, it remains powered by people who care – those who trust in skilled hands over machines, who value long fermentations and floor malted heritage barley, and who cherish the knowledge passed down through generations in warehouses.
For many of our clients, collecting and drinking are equally meaningful pursuits. They engage quietly with whisky’s history and complexity. It’s in this quieter corner of the whisky world, away from the public glare, that you’ll find the foundations of Kythe.
Founded by lifelong friends and ‘old-style’ whisky obsessives Jonny McMillan, Angus MacRaild and Aaron Chan, Kythe Distillery is entirely focused on creating whisky of uncompromising quality. Set to begin production in Perthshire in summer 2025, every step of their process, from fermentation to distillation, is designed to coax texture and complexity. Kythe’s approach is slow by design, where character always trumps convenience.
In a world of noise, Kythe is carving out a space for something meaningful - a new chapter for old-style whisky, rooted not in nostalgia, but intent.
Introducing Kythe
Kythe is deeply rooted in a love of old-style whisky. So naturally, the first question had to be: where did it all begin? What was the dram - the one that lit the spark, that set this obsession in motion and made the old-style itch impossible to ignore?
For me, it isn’t really about individual stand-out whiskies – although, there are many I could point to – but rather the sheer, cumulative weight of quality and character evident in historic Scottish malt whiskies when compared to their contemporary counterparts.
To me it was the relentless, consistent demonstration in these older examples that made me really question why doesn’t modern Scotch Whisky taste this way? Where do these flavours come from? And why aren’t people making whisky of this character and distinctiveness today?
Angus MacRaild
My first truly eye-opening experience with old style whisky came from an 8 year old, 80 proof Glendronach dumpy that our mutual friend Tim Forbes poured many, many years ago after a long shift at a whisky festival. The depth of tropical fruit, the layers of complexity, the sheer otherness of it compared to anything I'd tasted before blew my mind - it entirely rearranged my sense of what whisky could be.
Since then, I've been fortunate enough to taste some truly transcendent drams, from 1800s Glenlivet to 1950s Bowmore, shared by generous friends who have a love of opening these glorious old bottles. I have to say that Glendronach remains a touchstone. Proof that whisky can be more than we often allow it to be.
Jonny McMillan
Between them, Jonny, Angus and Aaron have worked every corner of the whisky world - selecting casks, shaping brands, founding festivals, and bottling top whiskies. In the whisky business for over a decade, Jonny was formerly Reserve Spirits Manager at Berry Bros. & Rudd and brings a wealth of experience in cask selection. Angus is a respected whisky writer and consultant who leads Decadent Drinks, a well-regarded independent bottling operation known for its creative and high quality releases. Aaron Chan rounds out the trio as the owner of Club Qing, a renowned whisky bar and independent bottler based in Hong Kong. Each is widely recognised as a leading voice in old-style whisky. Kythe brings together this shared experience, deep love for old whisky and a determination to do things differently.
“I think Jonny and I had both secretly harboured a desire to make whisky” explains MacRaild. “It’s hard when you are so obsessive and nerdy about this funny distilled drink, and fortunate enough to taste so many old and beautiful examples of it, not to begin to develop serious ambitions.”
Angus had been leading me astray with old bottles for some time before we began fleshing out this idea during an eight-hour car journey in 2014... It took us a few years and several dead ends until we discussed it with our good friend Aaron Chan of Club Qing in Hong Kong. Aaron was very much the missing link in our skill set.
Jonny McMillan
.. It’s just that all we had were ideas and ambitions; no money, no land and not much in the way of business experience. That’s why Aaron was such a critical missing piece of the puzzle. When he partnered with us and helped us really re-define what we wanted to do and how we might go about it, everything really started to move fast from there.
Angus MacRaild
Now, as the distillery nears the start of production, MacRaild is proud that the core of their vision remains unchanged: “What I’m so pleased about now, as we are on the cusp of finally actually distilling, is that the core vision is still the same as we discussed during that car journey eleven years ago. Not as grand perhaps, not as pretty, but the core ideological ruthlessness about the pursuit of quality and beauty remains immovably at the heart of the business, distillery and team we’ve built.”
Many distilleries today lean towards modern efficiency, but Kythe has embraced traditional methods. Inspired by the whisky production methods of the 1900s to 1960s, MacRaild defines this era as one of the greatest for Scotch whisky, produced by larger, skilled workforces who consciously chose, or chose not to, do things by hand.
I think about manually run distilleries full of human involvement, educated judgement and qualitive decision-making. Floor maltings using local or distillery-specific peat, distilleries using their own yeast or yeast from particular breweries, and the tending of direct-fired stills that required higher human involvement and skill than pushing buttons on a computer.
All of these factors undoubtedly made less efficient and less consistent whiskies, no doubt a nightmare for commercial scale blending companies, but they made more characterful and idiosyncratic single malts. That’s the method and approach that we are looking to very deliberately deploy at Kythe.
Angus MacRaild
When asked what this looks like in practice, McMillan adds,
Kythe will begin with an unpeated distillate, and if I had to point to a benchmark, a dram that encapsulates the pinnacle of what whisky can be, it would be 1960s Longmorn. Those whiskies have an effortless brilliance: deep tropical notes, a waxy texture that lingers for hours, and a complexity that unfolds in layers.
They are proof that patience, care, and the right decisions at every stage of production can create something astonishing. That's the dream we're chasing.
Jonny McMillan
Creating "old-style" Highland single malt
Kythe has a singular mission: to create a beautiful and distinctive new Scottish Highland Single Malt, using old style methods, equipment and ingredients. Not a penny has been spent on a visitor centre or gin. Instead, all efforts will go into the details that matter: floor-malted heritage barley, long fermentations with brewers' yeast, and the only commercially scaled, directly wood-fired pot still in Scotland.
But, what exactly defines 'old-style' whisky? To truly understand this, MacRaild explains, it’s important to focus on the character of the distillate itself.
Whiskies where the final, mature, bottled product is defined as much by distillate character as by the effects of wood. Whiskies that tended to have fuller body, greater textural presence in the mouth and more prominently feature flavour profiles dominated by waxiness, tropical fruit characteristics and mineral qualities.
In these whiskies the wood tends to be more ‘invisible’ and play more of a supporting role, as opposed to modern whiskies, which are frequently lighter-bodied, less complex distillates that are flavoured by the effect of additive, active oak.
Angus MacRaild
Kythe’s approach includes using heritage barley, like Maris Otter, and spent brewer's yeast sourced from a traditional ale brewery, chosen for the complexity it brings rather than for efficiency. The trade-off is clear: modern plants using high-yield barley and distillers’ yeast may produce over 410 litres of alcohol per tonne, while Kythe expects only 310 litres. But what is sacrificed in volume is gained in depth and character.
Creating an old-style whisky isn't about a single silver bullet, no single raw material or production tweak can conjure it into being. It's a holistic process, where every decision plays a role.
The methods matter, too. We'll be mashing in a traditional infusion mash tun rather than a semi-lauter, fermenting in wooden washbacks to encourage microflora, and, perhaps most crucially, distilling over a live wood fire. Each of these choices is a step towards something richer, something closer to what whisky once was.
Jonny McMillan
Kythe's copper pot stills, fabricated by Speyside Copper Works.
Kythe Distillery will be the only one in Scotland using live fire for direct-fire distillation on this scale, a decision that has raised some eyebrows. MacRaild jokes, "We hear ‘You’re insane!’ quite often when we bring it up, but I take it as a sign we’re doing something right."
The choice to use direct-fire wash distillation stems from technical reasons, particularly for the texture and body of the distillate, and the flavour profiles achieved through the Maillard reaction. But there are other reasons too.
It’s going to be a labour-intensive means of distilling that will require real skill, I think this will be an amazing thing for all of us working in the distillery to learn. A process we can develop individual techniques and approaches to. It will make us feel genuinely involved in the process of making whisky (as will the hand-stirred mash tun).
Finally, it also sends a clear message that Kythe is serious about creating old-style whisky, and really undertaking something ambitious and almost crazy and a little irrational perhaps. The wood-fired wash still is kind of the beating heart and the emblem of what Kythe is all about.
Angus MacRaild
From an engineering perspective, this has been the single greatest challenge. Four different engineering firms have shaped the deisgn, and we've leaned on a wealth of expertise, including Gordon Grant - one of the last workers to run Ardmore's direct coal-fired stills.
We're fortunate that Gordon will be on site for commissioning, helping us navigate the learning curve. Direct fire adds something that can't be replicated, contributing to a weight and texture that modern steam-heated stills struggle to achieve. It's an old way of doing things, yes, but some things were abandoned for ease, not for betterment.
Jonny McMillan
Whisky enthusiasts are often drawn to the magic of long fermentations and worm tubs - two age-old techniques that inspire both fervent debate and admiration. While they may sound a bit technical, their influence on the character and complexity of whisky is endlessly explored.
"Fermentation is the unsung hero of character," says Jonny McMillan. "That's why we've built in the capacity for 14-day fermentations as standard. Most distilleries running a plant our size could produce 200,000 or 300,000 litres annually. We'll be making 50,000 or 60,000. I hope that gives an idea of the scale of the trade-off we're willing to make in pursuit of depth and complexity.”
Worm tub condensers being installed at Kythe in March 2025.
MacRaild adds, "Much like direct-fired wash distilling, worm tubs are an integral part of older style malt whisky production. It’s one of the key parts of the distillation process that helps to encourage a heavier-bodied, fuller distillate. So, they were a no-brainer for us and we always intended to have them.”
He also notes that they encourage greater seasonal variation - something the team at Kythe actively welcome.
This is one of the lesser-discussed aspects of how distilleries can accumulate site-specific characteristics over the years. And we absolutely want Kythe to have natural variations in its distillery character – things for fellow whisky lovers and geeks to spot in our bottlings in the future. Worm tubs are a crucial part of that.
Kythe's approach to cask selection is thoughtfully centred around deliberate choices to let the character of the spirit shine. Their decision to fill predominantly with refill wood speaks to a philosophy of subtlety. MacRaild tells me:
A good refill hogshead is the classical cask that delivered the great, distillate-driven, older style Scottish malt whiskies.
We’ll always balance that with a proportion of classic, 1st fill bourbon barrels and a smattering of quarter casks because we want to have options to play with in the warehouse when we put bottlings together.
Finally, there will also be a meaningful annual proportion of first fill sherrywood used. You cannot disentangle old style whiskies from older style sherry cask influence. This has been a part of the process that has been really hard to get right but we are confident we’ve secured some beautiful older style sherry casks, and the necessary relationships to sustain that supply into the future.
The Future of Kythe
Kythe Distillery is on the verge of something special. While the project's foundation is built on the “old-style” methods of whisky production, it’s also forward-looking - aiming to contribute to the growing community of independent distilleries focused on quality and character. But how do they plan to evolve, and what makes Kythe stand out in the whisky world? Angus MacRaild explains,
We talk a lot about 'old-style whisky' as our inspiration, but in another sense, this is a very modern and forward-looking project. We want to make a whisky that sits amongst a community of other distinctive and quality-focussed new independent distilleries. A business that, over time, we hope, will become an important part of the global whisky community and culture.
The future of Kythe doesn’t just rely on historical methods, however. As MacRaild puts it, "Our yields will be total shit, so the only way we can derive value and profit, is through achieving something totally outstanding and beautiful on the quality front – something people truly desire and want to actually drink!”.
I think now is a really exciting time in Scotch Whisky production, I see Kythe as being part of a small group of distilleries that are putting flavour first - Dornoch, Ardnamurchan, Raasay, Holyrood, Dunphail among others. We see Kythe as part of that, but with its own distinct goals, its own uncompromising standards.
Jonny McMillan
As for the collectors and whisky lovers who are passionate about the character of bygone eras, MacRaild adds enthusiastically,
I think what we are doing is noble, crazy and going to be a lot of fun. If you love old style whiskies, all that really means is that you just love great whisky, beauty, quality and flavour. That is exactly what we are about and what we are dedicating our lives now to pursuing.
I don’t believe there is any other project quite like ours, geeks trying to re-create the greatest whiskies ever made and funded by other geeks that really want that project to succeed on its own terms. What else is like that in whisky today? So, I think you’d be daft not to tag along on what promises to be one hell of a journey.
Kythe truly embodies everything we're passionate about here at Whisky Auctioneer. As a company founded in Perth, it’s incredibly exciting to see this new venture add to the region’s rich whisky heritage. When asked about the challenges they've faced, McMillan acknowledged the obstacles in staying true to their unique approach, but expressed immense gratitude for the support from the whisky community. He gave special thanks to Mike Billington of HPS, Iain Hunter from CHAP, and Jack Mayo, whose expertise has been invaluable. McMillan concluded, “I’d like to say the hardest part is behind us, but I suspect the real adventure is just beginning.”
And I’m sure that he’s right. But if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that Kythe’s future is bright. In 20 years, they hope people will look back and recognise Kythe as a name that helped define the next generation of Scotch whisky. For now though, they remain focused on what matters most - getting every detail right and staying true to their vision.
For those interested in following Kythe's journey, we'd recommend staying in touch via the distillery’s website and mailing list at www.kythedistillery.com. Subscribers will be the first to hear about the rare opportunity to own one of their very first casks, so you’ll be first in line to be part of this remarkable distillery's story from day one.
