【酒廠逸聞軼事】老闆來了,別再偷喝威士忌!!
[ A Distillery Anecdote ] The Boss is Coming: Stop Stealing the Whisky!!
百富台灣品牌大使 沈宇軒 The Balvenie Brand Ambassador in Taiwan Daniel Shen
在2017年春天,我拜師學藝花了三個月的時間,在台灣學習以手工打造了這個黃銅色的取酒器,一方面為了要深刻體驗手工的困難與複雜度,另一方面也是紀念威士忌酒廠一個有趣歷史。在一百多年前,在蘇格蘭酒廠工作的工人們,忍受不了生命之水美味的誘惑,拜託製造蒸餾器的銅匠,用紅銅及黃銅做了一根管子,投入橡木桶中即可取出威士忌,這個取酒的道具被稱為dipping dog 或是copper dog。
管狀的造型方便工人們藏在衣褲裡,將威士忌帶回家裡偷偷享用。據說一百多年前,創辦人威廉格蘭每天巡視他的酒廠時,總是大聲地吹著口哨或沿路用力敲打酒窖的門板。原來老威廉是個很貼心的老板,他的口哨聲是為了要警告他的員工們:「老板來了,別再偷喝桶子裡的威士忌!」
Back in the spring of 2017, I spent three months taking up an apprenticeship in Taiwan where I learned how to handcraft this brass-coloured instrument: dipping dog. Firstly, I wanted to experience in-depth the difficulty and complexity that comes with handcrafting. I also wanted to honor an interesting part of the distillery’s history. Even for Scottish distillery workers more than a hundred years ago, the temptation of the water of life was something hard to resist. They asked the coppersmiths who made the stills to fashion a tube made of copper and brass. Once dipped into a cask, this copper tool was able to extract whisky. This extraction tool is called a dipping dog or copper dog.
Its tube-like shape made it easy for workers to conceal it inside their trouser legs. They would then sneak whisky home and enjoy it by stealth. It is said that more a hundred years ago, William Grant the founder would whistle loudly or knock on the cellar’s door when he was inspecting his distillery during his daily patrol. It turns out old William was a very attentive boss. His whistling was meant to warn his employees: “the boss’s comin’: stop stealing whisky from the casks!”