Georgie Bell fell for the whisky world 15 years ago while bartending in Edinburgh. Having graduated Edinburgh University, she joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), while there completing a degree with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. After stints as a global brand ambassador for the SMWS, Diageo, and Bacardi, she became global head of advocacy for Bacardi’s craft spirits. Her passion for making whisky accessible as an experience to be shared led her to launch the Heart Cut in 2023 with her husband, Fabrizio Leoni.

Whisky #1

Craigellachie

51 Years Old

When I worked for Bacardi we had one cask of Craigellachie 51. From it, we got 51 bottles — this not a marketing piece. It is exact and that happened… It’s my proudest moment of working at Bacardi... So typically, with a whisky, a Craigellachie 51 Years Old with 51 bottles, it would have a price tag attached to it similar to the down payment on a house, right? We gave it away for free. Dram by dram to whisky drinkers across the world. We created this mini bar-within-a-bar called Bar 51 that only six people could come into at a time. We started in Speyside, and then we were in London, New York, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Sydney, Melbourne… because of all of those pop-ups, over 1,000 people tried this whisky... The whisky was just amazing, super waxy, tropical fruit to the fore.

Whisky #2

The Heart Cut

Cask #01 — Stauning Distillery

As the name suggests, this is the first cask that we bought as a business. Fab, my husband, and I flew over to Stauning in late 2022 to pick this cask… Stauning has been on my radar for a really long time. I love what the team do there... this whisky is a heather-smoked single malt, using heather from the local moorlands that they only pick a couple of times a year and they put on the kiln during the malting process. It gives the whisky this beautiful, almost aromatic, ‘stepping into a Penhaligon’s store’ sort of note. It’s a smoky whisky for people that don’t like smoky whisky and for people that do like smoky whisky, which is great... It’s finished in a Madeira cask, so that smokiness is complemented by this praline, sticky toffee pudding character.

Whisky #3

Teeling

24 Years Old Vintage Reserve

When my husband and I got married in Edinburgh, we had a quaich as part of the ceremony. I bought this bottle of Teeling 24 Years Old at the distillery and when I bought it, we joked, “We’ll open it on our wedding day,” and we weren’t even engaged... Then we got married, and we opened it on our wedding day. We poured it into the quaich, and not only were we able to drink it during the ceremony, but also everyone who was there was also able to try Teeling 24 Years Old. So again, you see a theme in terms of not only making whisky accessible, but sharing. That was a really nice thing for me: to be able to say, “Hey, we’ve got this bottle, it’s incredible, and we’re going to share it with everybody.”

Whisky #4

Barrell Craft Spirits

Vantage

I’ve only come across [Barrell] in the last few years and everything I’ve tried from them is exceptional… I used to go to the US quite a bit with work when I worked on Angel’s Envy, which I also love. Whenever I went over there I said, “I’m really excited, I want to take something home that we can’t get at home that you’re all really excited by,” and Barrell kept coming up. I’ve bought a couple of bottles of it since then… I’m super into American whiskey. I like the diversity of flavours that comes in America… Since having the kids, Fab and I will sometimes, after bedtime and if it’s been a long day, we’ll sit and have a whisky and that will be our… moment to ourselves, and Barrell is our little treat whisky that we’ll sometimes have.

Whisky #5

Starward

Nova

I love Australian whisky. I think it’s great... And I love how Starward lean into their local Para red wine or Australian sherry cask… Starward is one of my go-tos and especially one I tell other people who are newly into whisky to try because of that red wine cask maturation. It’s got these really lovely redcurrant notes coming through, it’s very approachable. It’s got that toffee character in there as well... When people try it and then you tell them it’s Australian whisky, they’re like, “What!” I really enjoy that one. I also enjoy the flexibility of it. I love having it in an Old Fashioned and it works really well in a Manhattan, too.

Luxury item

Goggles

I’m big into open water swimming, and I do a lot of swimming. And it would be criminal if I wasn’t able to do that on the island. So, I’d take a pair of goggles with me so I could do laps around the island.