KEEPERS OF THE QUAICH “For those that make great Scotch Whisky, and those that make Scotch Whisky great,” his Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay. BY ASH PINI
The Keepers of the Quaich (pronounced ‘quake’) is a semi-secret international society, recognising those that have shown outstanding commitment to the Scotch Whisky industry. It’s not widely publicised as a society; its members are invited, not nominated, and number less than 3,000 worldwide. Those invited become Keepers and, after ten more years, maybe invited to become a Master of the Quaich. Inductions to the society happen twice a year, in spring and autumn, where guests are treated to a lavish banquet at Blair Castle in Pitlochry. I’ve heard it described as “a Scottish Cinderella’s ball, complete with red carpet, ball gowns, kilts, pipers and
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plenty of toasts”. The evening is presided over by Sarah Troughton, Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire and the grandmaster of the Keepers of the Quaich and the Atholl Highlanders. The Atholl Highlanders are officially Europe’s only private army.
the spirit and aims of the Keepers of the Quaich. Everybody signs the members’ list, which features such illustrious names as the former US President Ronald Reagan. The rest of the evening is an opulent, classic Highland dinner, of course with whisky, haggis, Robert Burns poems, and bagpipers.
Tradition and ceremony take centre stage as inductees drink from the quaich (a twohandled traditional Scottish drinking cup), signifying a welcome to the society.
The society was founded in the 1980s and is relatively young when counting in terms that the whisky industry does. Nevertheless, the society has its coat of arms and copyrighted tartan.
In a ceremony not open to the public, each keeper swears with his right hand resting on a giant handmade silver quaich to uphold
For now the banquets are on hold and may not resume until borders reopen, and international travel becomes the norm once
