Show Notes
How do you take your oysters?
Yes oysters.
Straight up? A splash of Tabasco? Or a couple of drops of whisky?
Yes. Whisky!
“I’d always have oysters with whisky rather than Tabasco,” Scottish food writer, broadcaster and 2022 UK MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin tells John Beattie in this the 50th episode of Cask to Glass.
“I love oysters and Cumbrae oysters are the best oysters there are,” she says. “A couple of drops of Tabasco brings out the sweetness, kind of opens up your tastebuds.”
But Sarah continues, “Switch out the Tabasco for two or three drops of Laphroaig 10, because that’s got that lovely seaweed back note. It’s got a little bit of oiliness because they are quite rich, and your mind will be blown with that instead of Tabasco.
“I would always have them now with whisky rather than with Tabasco. That would be my choice… It works so well with the briny, sort of slightly medicinal hit that you get from it with the liquor that’s, you know, from the oyster.
“It’s knockout!”
Yes. We agree! It’s knockout.
And full disclosure, this episode had us salivating from start to finish. Sarah even had John waxing lyrical about seasonal Scottish Brussel sprouts by the end.
You could say he was eating out of her hand.
After pairing whisky and cheese in Episode 48 with Paul Bock and David Reid, what better way to celebrate the heritage and flavour of Scotland’s national drink and the world’s favourite spirit than pairing it with Scotland’s great cuisine.
And who better than Sarah, author of two great Scottish cookbooks: Kith: Scottish Seasonal Food for Family and Friends (Birlinn, 2024) and Feast: Recipes that Bring Joy (Birlinn, 2025)?
“Whisky has actually always been one of my things, long before it was legal for it to be one of my things,” Sarah confesses. “It was my teenage tipple of choice.”
It soon became Sarah’s USP.
“When I was quite young,” she continues, “I worked as a tour guide, and I used to take tour groups all around Scotland. And I realised quite early on that I was considerably younger than everyone else. So I needed to have something that made me a little bit different.
“So, I thought, well, I know a wee bit about whisky…”
And that was Sarah’s entre into whisky and food.
Today, post-MasterChef, Sarah Rankin is one of Scotland’s best-known foodies and a regular contributor on food and cooking for the BBC.
So tune in as Sarah takes John on a culinary journey that pairs whisky with Scotland’s finest produce, from venison and salmon to chocolate and ice cream.
Whether you’re cooking with whisky or matching it with dishes, there’s plenty to learn.
So raise a glass to great whisky and great food…
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
Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Cask to Glass
How do you take over an iconic whisky brand like Highland Park from a “Hall of Famer”, who’s shaped and directed its flavour and style of nearly 30 years? And how do you keep its signature taste and feel consistent, so consumers know exactly what they’re getting, yet make it exciting and refreshing?
“Whiskies are made to be opened; to be enjoyed; and to be shared about,” insists Hamish Malcolm, aka The Dram Caddy, who provides whisky and golfing tours across the east and north-east of Scotland. "They’re not meant to be stored on a shelf.”
Up to 70% of a whisky’s flavour comes from the wood. But what actually happens inside the barrel to create world-class whisky? Legendary Master Distiller Billy Walker unpacks the exact science of oak maturation, cask chemistry, and why age still matters.
Is Scotch Whisky "unfairly" taxed in the UK compared to other drinks?
"If you take away the cooper, you take away the cooperage, you take away the barrels, then you don't get whisky," says Ray Prosser, Sales & Operations Manager at Oakwood Cooperage, the largest independent cooperage in the UK. Not just because Scotch Whisky must by law be matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years, but because, Ray says, 70% of whisky's flavour comes from the wood.