Show Notes
Word of Richie Gray’s First Fifteen has been getting around, “to the point where,” the Scottish rugby and American football coach says, “I never even thought to myself you’d be getting the calls you’ve been getting over the last two or three weeks.”
And Richie’s had his share of high impact phone calls. The Springboks in 2014. The Miami Dolphins in 2016. Fiji in 2020. And the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.
He’s the Collision King. A training innovator and coaching entrepreneur whose contact and collision methodologies and training aids are used across world rugby and the NFL. 24 out of 32 NFL teams use his system.
But it’s his passion for whisky now prompting the phone calls. And it’s putting pressure on him to make “some big decisions” this year.
“When’s it going to auction?” his callers are asking. “When’s it going to auction?”
It is a wooden cabinet with inlaid brass linking rugby and whisky, an idea that came to Richie as he and some rugby friends were sitting round the barbecue in France having glass of wine.
“I said,” Richie explains, “You know what? You need to finish with a malt. I’m a Scotsman. A proud Scotsman. Malt whisky has been part of your life. Your old rugby committee men would have a whisky. You were brought up on whisky. Sometimes you had whisky at half-time.
“So I said, I want to create the most collectible rugby malt piece on the planet. And we’re all rolling about laughing and they were all like: ‘What are you gonna do?’
“And it started. It started.”
Richie teamed up with Anthony Wills from Kilchoman Distillery on Islay (featured in Season 1 Episode 8 of Cask to Glass in March 2025).
Now Richie’s never been to Islay.
But he learnt that Anthony’s farm-to-bottle distillery had a sign in one of the fields saying Rugby Park Field, so called Anthony told him, because “that’s where the first ever game of rugby took place on Islay. It was given by the farmer to the rugby club to start their journey as a rugby team.”
Together they came up with Kilchoman RugbyField Malt, a limited-edition 9 year old single cask malt. Just 245 bottles released in 2022.
“And this is like the punch,” Richie says. “I said: ‘I’m willing to do all the work for this and set it up and whatever, but I would like the first 15 bottles, because I’m going to do something with them eventually when I’ve got the time.”
“One thing led to another,” Richie continues. “And on the day we released it, the Wills family from Kilchoman sent me down the first 15. So it sat and it sat there for the last three years, until maybe mid 2025 and I then I thought: ‘Right. Here we go.
“I’d always had this idea in my head,” Richie tells John. “I wanted to create a phenomenal Scottish oak cabinet.
“I wanted Glencairn glasses at the top. I wanted 15 bottles in there, like a team sheet in some ways.
“And I wanted it all done in Scottish Gaelic, you know. A’ Chiad 15.
“The 1st 15.
“And then, I can’t say it in Gaelic, but it’s ‘Where the spirits of the legends come to play.’ Because I always like the Field of Dreams film.”
And just like the movie says: “If you build it, he will come…”
Word’s got out. And Richie’s phone won’t stop ringing.
“The world of malt whisky must bloody move quickly,” he chuckles.
Will he auction it? And how much is it worth?
Richie’s coy on both those counts. But he admit, “The whole thing’s insured for a six-figure sum. And it’s had to be insured for that. And it’s not a low six-figure sum just because we couldn’t come up with a price because you just don’t know…”
Tune in to catch the full story.
Slàinte! ------- Socials: @C2GWhisky | @JohnRossBeattie
Creator & producer: David Holmes Art work & design: Jess Robertson
Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home) Vocals: Andrea Cunningham Guitars: John Beattie Bass: Alasdair Vann Drums: Alan Hamilton Bagpipes: Calum McColl Accordion: Gary Innes Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
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