This website honours and preserves the memory of my father, Dr Jim Swan, whose contributions to the whisky industry touched lives and distilleries across the globe.
Why I Created This Website
When my father died suddenly in February 2017, he left behind five decades of knowledge: photographs from distillery visits, diaries, lab books, academic papers, lectures, presentations, and insights shared with colleagues throughout his career.
My father believed that knowledge should be shared, that scientific advances existed to be used, and that understanding and optimising every element of production could help distilleries create whiskies with complex and interesting characters. Through this website, I am piecing together his story from the materials he left behind and from conversations with those who worked alongside him.
The Story This Archive Tells
My father worked through decades of significant advances in analytical chemistry, statistical methods, and laboratory technology. His career documents how he applied these developing tools to understand whisky: the chemistry of wood extractives, the variables in cask maturation, the effects of climate on spirit development, and the science behind sensory evaluation. His work, from the STR cask process to studies on hot climate maturation, shows the practical application of scientific methods to whisky production.
A Personal Connection to Natural Processes
My passion for preserving and sharing my father's work stems from my connection to natural processes. I keep bees and chickens, grow fruit and vegetables, and preserve them through canning, fermenting, and pickling. I explore nature through hiking and cycling.
There's something magical about how flavours shift and evolve with the seasons: the bright, fresh notes of spring herbs and early summer berries, the rich depth of autumn stone fruits, the warming spices of winter. Whether I'm mixing a seasonal cocktail with ingredients from my garden or choosing a dram to fit the mood or occasion, I'm endlessly fascinated by how time, place, and natural variations create such diverse and complex flavour experiences.
Through these pursuits, I've come to appreciate the beautiful variability in natural products, how they reflect their environment, their terroir, their specific conditions. This is precisely why whisky science fascinates me. Whisky is a product that captures and expresses the complexities of the real world through its sensory experience. The wood species and forest it came from, the climate during maturation, the water source, the barley varieties, the yeast strains: all of these variables come together to create something unique and remarkable. Just as my honey tastes different each season based on what's blooming, or my eggs vary with the chickens' diet and the time of year, whisky captures these natural variations and transforms them into something to be savoured and studied.
My father understood this deeply. His work was about understanding these variables scientifically so that distillers could work with nature to create exceptional spirits. That philosophy resonates with me completely, and it's why I feel compelled to ensure his knowledge isn't lost.
My World
Preserving Knowledge for Future Generations
In creating this website, I wanted to ensure that future generations of whisky makers and enthusiasts could learn from the foundations my father helped establish. His archive contains insights that remain relevant today, solutions to problems distillers still face, and a philosophy of innovation tempered with respect for tradition that the industry needs now more than ever.
This is an ongoing project. As I continue to work through my father's papers, diaries, and photographs, and as I speak with the many people whose lives he touched, new stories and insights emerge. Each one adds another piece to the puzzle of understanding how modern whisky came to be what it is today.
Get in Touch
I welcome contact from:
• Those who worked with my father and wish to share memories, stories, or insights
• Distilleries that benefited from his consulting work and can contribute to his story
• Researchers and students interested in his contributions to whisky science
• Anyone with photographs, documents, or anecdotes that might add to this archive
• Those with questions about his work or this memorial website
Please reach out via email: victoria@drjimswan.com
Every story, every memory, every scrap of information helps complete the picture of a remarkable career and ensures that his knowledge continues to benefit the whisky world.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about my father's work and for helping keep his memory and his knowledge alive.