A film worth making is worth making classily. The principle clearly underpinned the decision to make a short biopic called Nettie, prompted by the sale of a bottle of 1926 Macallan whisky for the world record price of £1.5 million.

The film is about the woman who ran The Macallan show at Craigellachie when a crucial cask was filled with that precious liquid almost a century ago. It is also tacit acknowledgement that Scotch whisky collectors with lots of money around the world are buying into history and narrative as well as a drinkable, tradeable commodity. And they will love 'The Macallan - The Movie.'

An American collector was vendor of the £1.5 million bottle. According to Sotheby's spirits specialist, Jonny Fowle: "The electricity in the auction room was palpable. There were cheers when the hammer fell on The Macallan Fine and Rare 1926, in what has to be one of the most exciting moments in the history of whisky sales."

The Macallan has a great, authentic story to tell and chose this moment to tell it. Who better to write the script than Allan Scott, though at this point the name-check, for those who do not know, gets a bit confusing. Allan Scott is the screenwriter and producer (think The Queen's Gambit, etc.).

Allan Shiach, on the other hand, was formerly chairman and chief executive of The Macallan, prior to becoming part of Edrington in 1999. It was Shiach who made the decision to bottle The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 after 60 years of maturation back in 1986, during his time as chairman of the company.

The twist to the name tale is that Scott and Shiach are one and the same person - an enviable double life which has ensured that Allan S., as we will call him, knows not only a great deal about whisky and movie, but everyone who's anyone in both businesses.

So, recruitment for the film was not a problem, starting with the director Mike Newell, whose previous credits include such modest titles as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. That's surely the most promising starting point ever for an eight-minute promotional film!

But what's the plot? Shortly before the end of the First World War, Alexander Harbinson, an Irish doctor who had been running the distillery, died suddenly. He had married into the business , his wife, Janet - or Nettie - being the daughter of the distillery's owner, Roderick Kemp, an innovator with strong local loyalties who built The Macallan brand. Nettie knew the operation inside out but the idea of a woman running a distillery was still pretty alien to the age she lived in. However, she resisted pressure to sell, became managing director, and saw the business through twenty exceptionally tough years of prohibition, depression, and war. Along the way, she made great whisky - including that 1926 cask that was to become famous.

Jaume Ferras, Global Creative Director for The Macallan, said: "We uncovered Janet Harbinson's story when researching the background to The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 and we knew we had to share it as soon as we learned of her role in its distillation and maturation, as well as the deep influence she had on the future development of the brand.

"At its heart, this is a love story; it celebrates the love that Nettie had for her husband, her love for the local community, her love for nature, and her love for the family business. She cared deeply about others and was determined to use her position at The Macallan to enrich the lives of those around her."

Jaume says that "as a brand with a long Scottish heritage, it was important for us to bring together the best of the country's creative talent" and they largely stuck to that principle. The exception was the fine London-born actress, Emily Mortimer, who flew in from her Brooklyn home to play the part of Nettie - and the accent is perfect!

What celebration of Scottish talent would be complete without the actor Bill Paterson? He has been a friend of mine since the halcyon days of The Cheviot, The Stag, and The Black, Black Oil and I have seen him in a hundred roles. But he was never better cast than as the wing-collared family solicitor telling Nettie that a woman couldn't possibly run the company then recoiling in horror as she tore up the offending documents in front of him. I laughed out loud!

When I mentioned that the Glasgow-born designer, Christopher Kane, was responsible for Nettie's period costumes while Simple Minds provide the soundtrack, you will get the idea that this is not so much a promotional film as a work of art, worthy of its subject. It has been shown in selected cinemas around the world or you can find it on The Macallan website.

As owners of The Macallan, Edrington have elevated it to the highest peaks of the Scotch whisky industry to become the world's biggest selling single malt by value. It is entirely appropriate to their history that a strong female narrative features so strongly in its history since their own existence is also a tribute to the under-reported role of women in the Scotch whisky industry.

The Edrington Group grew out of Robertson & Baxter, a bottling and blending company founded in Glasgow in 1855. Their interests in the whisky industry expanded and eventually ended up in the hands of William Robertson's three spinster granddaughters who, in order to maintain the business' independence in perpetuity, created in 1961 the Robertson Trust.

Robertson & Bazter was renamed The Edrington Group, after the estate in Berwickshire which the sisters owned since 1945 and the Trust has remained the dominant shareholder in the business. The dividends which it pays to The Robertson Trust allow it to operate as one of Scotland's most significant philanthropic funders with a focus on supporting organisations "working to alleviate trauma and poverty in Scotland."

The Robertson Trust has dispensed hundreds of millions of pounds throughout its existence while also seeking to inform public opinion on the issues it deals with. For example, it recently published "new research showing that many low-income families are being pushed into debt and arrears by the public bodies meant to be helping them through the cost-of-living emergency." To say the least, it's unusual work to be funded from the profits of a whisky company! William Robertson also founded Highland Distillers in 1887. It grew into one of the most significant players in the whisky industry and when The Edrington Group brought it within the fold, it came with the Famous Grouse and Highland Park brands as well as The Macallan with all its potential for global promotion which was quickly identified and acted upon.

As the brand's status grew, so too did the potential for attracting visitors to the place it is made. In 2018, Edrington opened a stunning £140 million distillery and visitor centre on the original site at Easter Elchies Estate, near Craigellachie. At present, to help them on their journey to net zero by 2045 (and presumably cut their energy bills), they are planning on developing a solar farm close to the distillery.

It's a great success story and all the better for having, in the background, a social purpose. The film is worthy of the story and if they are ever making a sequel, I would nominate the remarkable Robertson sisters as suitable subjects!

The original feature is from the Spring 2023 edition of Whiskeria, delivered to the door of W Club subscribers and also free with any Whisky Shop purchase in store or online.