What if there were no rules?
What if whisky wasn’t an exclusive club
where things like ice and water are not allowed.

I should probably introduce myself. I’m Racheal, the ‘Jones’ part of Jackson Jones. I’ve loved whisky all my (legal) life. Chris is the ‘Jackson’ part, and he really loves whisky too. Ever since we first met, we dreamed of tearing up the rule book and creating small batch whiskies that were all about one thing – flavour. We wondered what would happen if we stopped obsessing over the pedigree of a particular distillery and chose liquids based exclusively on how they taste.

This is the story of why we decided to create Jackson Jones.

I spent several years in the Scotch business, working on the premium range of one of the world’s leading blends. This took me to places all over the world that I never dreamt I’d get the chance to visit – Taipei being one place in particular that lodged itself firmly into my heart, but tales from Taiwan I will save for another day. I got to try whiskies older than I was and meet whisky lovers from all corners of the globe.

One thing that stood out to me though, was that despite being a tradition that is over 1000 years old, so many people still find whisky unapproachable. I grew tired of ‘experts’ who said you shouldn’t add water to your whisky (even though the best Distillers and Blenders in the world all add water to their whisky to get the best flavour), tired of those that looked down their noses at grain whisky (even though grain whiskies can often be much more versatile than their malt cousins) and tired of the same old expected cues of tartan, bagpipes and haggis. Make no mistake, I love everything about traditional Scotland and some of my favourite times were spent wearing a tartan sash, dancing until the early hours on Speyside to the sound of the Fochaber Fiddlers. I just don’t think all whisky needs to relate back to that.

It was on one of those many Speyside trips that I first met my friend, and Jackson Jones’ master alchemist, Greg Dillon. We went ribbing on the River Spey in bright orange fisherman’s wetsuits and then bonded over a hot bowl of Cullen Skink.

It was one of those instant connections when you just know you’re on the same page. Greg knows a lot about whisky. And I mean, a LOT. He exists in a world surrounded by tradition, traditions he embraces but (and this is why he was the perfect partner for Jackson Jones), he’s never been afraid to experiment. He loves testing out unusual combinations of liquids and casks and doesn’t feel bound by stuffy rules that would stifle his creativity. Since we met, Greg has won multiple awards for his own blends and now he’s helping us to create exceptional tasting whiskies of our own, embracing our no-rules, all flavour philosophy.

So here we are. I work with Greg to create incredible tasting blended whiskies that shake off the shackles of what’s expected of a quality whisky and instead think only about flavour. We’ll often use an unusual cask or unexpected spirit from Greg’s library, which means that our batches are small, you can’t just turn a tap on, and when they’re gone, the taste of them becomes a memory.

I really hope you’ll join us on this journey.

Racheal, Founder of Jackson Jones.

P.S. Enjoy our whiskies however you damn well like.