The Whisky Smugglers head to Scotland’s open waters
A pair of brothers will embark on a series of wild water swims in some of the UK’s most treacherous waters this summer – all with bottles of whisky strapped to their bodies.
Alex and Nick Ravenhall, known as the Whisky Smugglers, are taking part in the feat to raise money for Sea Shepherd New Zealand.
On 1 August, the New Zealand-born pair will undergo a perilous swim across the Corryvreckan, the narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, whilst transporting drams of whisky to be blended and sold as limited-edition Scotch whisky.
Teaming up with Signatory, one of the UK’s largest independent whisky bottlers, the drams will be used to create bespoke cask whiskies, which will be sold later this year to raise money to help protect and conserve New Zealand’s waters.
The Kiwi brothers founded Whisky and Waves, an ocean awareness charity, to call attention to the vulnerability of the Earth’s beautiful waterways.
They united on creating a campaign that would encourage a wider global responsibility for overfishing, poaching and environmental waste which have all destroyed marine populations and polluted the seas.
The brothers will swim in the Corryvreckan, the narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba
Rather than taking a pedestrian fund-raising route, Alex and Nick use both their skills as accomplished wild swimmers and their sense of adventure to draw attention to the importance of our seas, rivers and lakes. The pair felt a special calling to work with Sea Shepherd on this project, whose charity work includes protecting Maui’s dolphins endemic to New Zealand.
The brothers now based in the UK both work in the new world whisky scene.
Nick is the managing director for Edinburgh’s innovative Holyrood Distillery, whilst Alex is head of events for Atom Brands, whose clients include the famous independent whisky bottling brand Boutique-y Whisky Company.
Both working in the drinks industry, the pair decided to tackle the global water problem in the sphere of whisky, which is all too often associated with exclusivity, hedonism and excess. The accomplished swimmers have already raised $11,000 for Sea Shepherd in 2019.
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