Filmmaker Andrew Peat follows the story of Scotch whiskey, from barley to the barrel.
Scotch: A Golden Dream...I'm actually surprised that they didn't call it A Golden Dram (a dram is a unit of measurement, but is also an informal way of referring to a small amount of scotch whisky). Actually, if I'm being totally honest that they didn't call this documentary Jim McEwan's Golden Dram because that is effectively the story that is being told.
The documentary follows the life of distiller and master blender Jim McEwan from the age of 15 and goes through his 53-year career in the billion dollar industry of scotch whisky. It's rather an odd narrative direction for a documentary that is not primarily about this man. The doco follows McEwan's career for the first hour and then deviates rather considerably to dabble in other associated topics such as the manufacturing of glass bottle for the end product, and the presence of women in the industry too, but without a doubt, these topics don't feel like cohesive elements of the documentary, instead seemingly tacked on to the end as the runtime was not long enough.
A glorified piece of promotional material for the Scottish Island of Islay and the nine distilleries that it homes, Scotch: A Golden Dream is more self-serving propaganda material than a balanced look at the scotch whisky industry.
That is not to say that the documentary is without merit. There is enough content to appeal to scotch novices and those that are simply curious. It discusses each step in general terms, from the merits of their salty soils, relationships with the local farmers, the treatment, processing, and distillation of the product, to the barrel selection, ageing process, and bottling. Even going as far as to spend a good five minutes looking at different experts methods of fully appreciating your scotch (surprise, it's mostly sniffing it an extended period of time).
The amount of this documentary that focuses on Jim McEwan's personal life and the other industry leaders opinions on him creates a cohesive narrative for the first two acts, but the film does seem poorly titled, and not willing to delve below that surface level content. Pacing falls apart in the latter end and leaves you with uncertainty as to the purpose of the documentary. Is it meant to talk about how the profits from the island's whisky exports aren't making it back to the local community? Is it a look at the sexism that women are exposed to working in the industry? Is it putting forward the idea of localised scotch distilleries as a means of keeping local communities employed? I have no idea...
A nicely produced scotch whisky course for the up-and-coming connoisseur. The information, however, is nothing that a few YouTube videos and a quick Google couldn't provide.