In this Q&A I asked Amir, who is someone who I consider to be one of the most interesting individuals in the whisky community, some incredibly personal and probing questions.

Amir Ellituv, also known as the ‘Whisky Rabbi’ on Instagram, opened up to me and answered the questions that I felt needed answering.

For people who are unfamiliar with you. Could you tell us a little bit about what you do, how you got started as a whisky influencer and reviewer?

I am a Rabbi of a Jewish orthodox Sephardi congregation in Hale Barns, Cheshire. I am an NHS Jewish chaplain, and a foundation governor of a Jewish primary school. I look after the members of my community, help them throughout their lifecycle, teach, counsel, and do a lot of pastoral care. I am the proud husband of the love of my life, Tova, we have been married for 22 years, and a very proud father of 6 special lovely children.

Every now and then I need time to unwind, I deal with a lot of people’s issues!! I love Scotland, and whisky, and over the years have visited many distilleries with my family on our holidays, they are understanding and enjoy it (At least most of the time!!) A few years ago, Tova started an Instagram account called sprinklesonmyfloor which showed her smoothies, poke bowls, and cookie and cake making decorations. She was loving it, and I thought, maybe I will start an insta account about whisky, and that’s how the beginning of the journey started, but I will share more later on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a practising Rabbi, does the whisky you drink have to be Kosher, or are there any dos and don'ts in relation to this that you can tell me about?

As a practising Rabbi and Jew, everything that goes into my mouth has to be kosher, and ideally everything that goes out, also needs to be correct! In Judaism kosher drinks can’t have any grape products in unless the grape juice has been supervised by a religious Jew from the time the grapes has been made into juice and it doesn’t contain any colourants from non kosher ingredients. When it comes to whisky there is a debate as to whether whisky aged in casks that previously had grape based products, such as wine, sherry, or port are ok or not. I follow the many respected opinions that allow such whisky. As long as the whisky has been regulated and you know the ingredients, which in most whisky is only yeast, barley and water, then its fine.

As a rabbi I can’t get drunk or drink too much that I lose control of my mouth, or my behaviour!! I have only been drunk once as an 18 year old as a student during the Jewish festival of Purim when there is a tradition to drink to excess.

Can you describe your first whisky experience and how your journey as Whisky Rabbi began?

At home my parents never drank whisky, although my late mum used to enjoy a small tipple of Aberlour. As a university student I enjoyed whisky, and when I got married we always had whisky on our Shabbat/Sabbath table that guests enjoyed, but it was then either an 18 year old Glenlivet, or whatever someone bought. I never made a fuss about it. However, some 15 years ago I stayed with my brother in law in Glasgow, and he loves his whisky, he said, “Amir, help yourself to whatever is in the cabinet”, every evening I tried a couple of drams, which ranged from Blue Label, Aberlour, Glenlivet, but when I tried a Bowmore 17 something clicked, and I started on a journey that I haven’t looked back. I remember going to the whisky shops in Callandar and Inverary and being introduced to Caol ila, and then going to Royal Mile Whisky and trying the Talisker 18. It was amazing. It took me a few years later to visit the first of over seventy distilleries at Auchentoshan.

My Journey as Whisky Rabbi on Instagram started first as being inspired by Tova’s account, but then I felt a soothing and relaxing experience that helped me unwind when I would travel to lovely scenic places and take pictures of a whisky bottle with the most beautiful background. People liked it on insta, I found a niche, and I found some special friends on Instagram, especially in our whisky circle, that gave me the encouragement to keep doing what we did.

Do you have a funny anecdote relating to or sharing the good word of whisky?

I meet up with many people, and I love sharing whisky with people, it brings people together, it creates a special atmosphere. I love seeing people’s eyes light up when they try something they love, and I love it when people cough away when they find a certain whisky too strong!! We recently went to Ireland last summer and I was chatting away to the owner of the Carrigart riding stables. He offered me a Bushmills, and poured me the generous healthy portion that the Irish give, and I said allow me to get you a whisky from the car for you to try. I took out a Teeling and before you knew it, some 5 or 6 others came out of nowhere and I was pouring them healthy drams from the Teeling, they all began to sing these Irish folk songs and we stood together posing for pictures. The atmosphere was mega. The owner afterwards came over to me and said, for 52 years I have been in this business and never has anyone ever offered me a whisky before!! It was special, whisky breaks all barriers.

Can you tell me about your best distillery experience; the where and why?

Best distillery experience was definitely Ancnoc/Knockdhu. In 2015 we visited the Aberdeenshire and went to many distilleries. Before the holiday I rang some of them to find out whether they would allow young children. When I rang Ancnoc, they sounded so nice, and they said, we will even put your children to work in the distillery. I sensed something special with that distillery. On our journey to the distillery we read in the car aloud the latest write up by the whisky year book about Ancnoc, and tested the kids about the distillery. As we arrived the manager greeted us, and was in shock when he saw a young family with 6 kids, the youngest 2 years old, and the oldest 12 years old pile out of the car. As he started the tour one of the kids said last year you malted 400,000 litres of peated malt, and another kid said, and your peated range is cutter……. Gordon thought we were from Whisky Mars and that we were totally bonkers, but in love with whisky bonkers. For the next two and a half hours we went round the distillery, every child signed their own barrel and stencilled the year and barrel number on the top. It was our greatest distillery experience ever that we will cherish as a family.

Although as a family we have had other interesting times, on one occasion we went to a new distillery, and the new tour guide said has anyone been to a whisky distillery before, the whole crowd was quiet, until my kids said, we have been, we have been to twenty!! I got some interesting looks from the others in the tour, whilst the guide though my kids were taking the mick! The guide then said can you name them, and they promptly did. This summer when visiting Bushmills, the guide said the same question, and my 8 year old said, I have been to 50, and my dad has been to 80 distilleries!! Nachas, Jewish pride!!!

Could you detail, why you picked Instagram as your platform of choice over the others?

I have chosen Instagram because when I started it was something slightly anonymous, I felt I was being an alter ego, it was an account that when I started no one really knew it was Rabbi Amir Ellituv, it was my non communal rabbi thing that I did. Obviously as it grew, people from my community knew it was me, they have been very supportive. I have a facebook page that I am not really active on. The algorithms are rubbish at the moment and I have been thinking of TikTok, but its not really me, I will stick to Insta, and try and keep my loyal following happy.

Do you find it difficult to follow new trends and create interesting whisky posts that will still be relevant past 2022?

The reels is a newish thing for me, I’m not so keen as it seems quite gimmicky, and doesn’t give so much information, saying that poshscotch does some cracking reels over drammertime. As long as I keep shooting beautiful scenic posts with lovely bottles, a spiritual or inspirational message, or tasting notes, that should do the trick. Keep authenticity, keep showing the real or reel you.

Any thoughts or concerns with bottle collectors, or would you rather the whisky be drunk rather than gathering dust on a shelf?

People will always collect things, whisky should be drunk but the reality is that it is something very popular, there is a demand for it, and people will try and make money out of it. I have a few bottles that I have saved for selling, but 98% of my bottles get drunk. There should be a way how to make sure that people who want to drink the whisky should get their hands on it, but that isn’t the way how the market works. Some of the collectables are seriously hyped up and really not worth the price that people charge.

Can you detail the significance of whisky to you and perhaps describe some of your relationships with your followers or the whisky community in general?

Whisky to me is a drink that uncovers amazing different flavours and tastes, it brings people together, it creates interesting conversation, it brings out the best of the culture, scenery and romanticism of Scotland. When I drink whisky, I also think of the special family times we have had in Scotland, I think of the lochs, the mountains, the coastline, the magical ferry journeys to Islay, to Arran, and Mull, I think of the road trips to Campbeltown, Aberdeenshire, and Achiltibuie (there are no distilleries near Achiltibuie!) I think of bagpipes, of Kilts, of Scottish castles, of the people and characters behind the spirit and I think of the indomitable Scottish spirit.

My relationships with my followers, well firstly the most important one is that of sprinklesonmyfloor, but I also love chatting with members of the whisky circle, and some others over Instagram, I have met a couple of followers, but would really love to meet more of them. I enjoy meeting with whisky makers, independent bottlers. I love reviewing and trying different whiskies, and always happy to take pictures and try new whiskies out there.

There is still a significant amount of sexism in the whisky community. Do you have any thoughts about this?

Sexism in the industry, it is out there simply by reading what different followers share, there is a shift with more women leading different distilleries and having important roles as master blenders and master distillers, but there is still a long way to go to change attitudes of certain people. People has to me more respectful, more understanding and less condescending. Whisky is a drink for all sexes, and not only for the men. A couple of my daughters are excellent in their nosing and tasting notes, better than me for certain!!

When you're not posting about spirits, how do you unwind? Do you have any interests that aren't related to alcohol?

How do I unwind when not whisky related. I read, I study Jewish books, I watch films or different series. I go to the gym, I used to be a good road cyclist, and 10 years ago I did a monumental bike ride in Israel, am losing weight to get back on the bike and am feeling so much fitter. I would love to do a bike ride around Scotland and different distilleries. Just chatting with my wife and kids is also a great unwind, but sometimes can be the opposite!!

I’d like to take this moment to thank Amir for answering such personal questions and for allowing us to learn, about his life as the ‘Whisky Rabbi’ during this fantastic interview.

If you’d like to follow him on Instagram you can do so here @whiskyrabbi

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