This week’s news and gossip

Loch Lomond

Rod and his family enjoyed a few days in Loch lomand at the weekend staying at the plush Loch Lomond golf club which has a joining fee in excess of £100,000, is not accessible to visitors and only allows members and their guests to enjoy their first class services.

After a warm welcome of whisky and bagpipes it was time for a round of golf with teacher Gordon Strachen

And on Sunday Rod watched Nicholas Kuhn score a late winner for Celtic score at Ross County as the Hoops bounced back from their Champions League disappointment in mid week winning 1

Keepers of the Quaich

On Monday Rod was honoured by the Keepers of the Quaich at Blair Castle in Perthshire for his contribution to Scotland and its whisky industry.

Sir Rod rubbed shoulders with some of the most important people in the whisky industry at the 68th Keepers of the Quaich autumn banquet where he was made Honorary Keeper of the Quaich.

Rod joined an illustrious list of previous recipients including King Charles, the late US President Ronald Reagan and Outlander author Diana Gabaldon.

A spokesperson for Keepers of the Quaich said: “Sir Rod is one of the greatest ambassadors for Scotland and we are honoured he has accepted our invitation to attend the banquet and to be inducted as an Honorary Keeper of the Quaich.”

Pictured above is Josh from Wolfie’s whisky with Rod

Rod performed a version of Maggie May on the night with the help of his mate John McLaughlin

The Keepers of the Quaich takes its name from a traditional Scottish drinking vessel (which can be used for whisky, though they are generally more for decorative purposes than practical). Twice a year, the society holds an induction ceremony at Blair Castle, parts of which date back to the mid-13th century, to recognise those who have played a role in the promotion of Scotch whisky.

Wolfie’s whisky commented “It was a night of fun and frolics, dancing on the tables and one of the dukes event got his bum pinched!”

To see all the photos from the night go to https://www.keepersofthequaich.co.uk/banquets/autumn-2024-banquet

SMILER 2025 Calendar

The SMILER 2025 calendar is now available to pre -order featuring stunning shots from SMILER photographers Shannon Holliday, Jim Pietryga, Yve Paige and Marc Baulisch-Steines. Also this year we have fantastic contributions from Wolfie’s whisky who gave us our brilliant cover, Dave Featherstone, Etienne Fournier and others.

And don’t forget members get a £2 discount.

And Finally…

In an interview with American Songwriter, Stevie Nicks explained why she saw the opportunity to tour with Rod as an honour, stating, “I was able to go out on the road just now and feel very good about opening for Rod Stewart, because Rod Stewart [is] awesome; one of my big influences.”

Despite being one of the most recognisable faces in rock music over the last several decades, Nicks didn’t feel that her name value was enough to warrant her playing arenas. She also felt a kinship with Rod, which made the joint tour make perfect sense to the Fleetwood Mac singer.

Nicks said of the tour: “It went great. He’s trippy, he’s charming. I’m used to English people so I’m very comfortable with the English people. They are very witty and very funny and charming. You can’t not like Rod Stewart because he’s darling, and he was very good to me and he gave me a chance to take my new album around the United States and do 18 arena gigs, which, by myself, I could not command. I can’t play the arenas that Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac play.”

See you next week…