Several months ago, our very own Brad Thomas Parsons wrote a semi-definitive guide to distillery cats—those felines that keep watch over the affairs of great spirits. Ari Shapiro, NPR’s London correspondent, built upon this guide with a tour paying homage to one of Scotland’s most renowned distillery cats, Towser the Mouser of Glenturret. In his day, Towser garnered the Guinness Book of World Records for hunting mice—28,899 total.
Keeping a cat on premises has become common practice among distilleries, if not for mousing then for free advertising—cats are always Instagram ready, and tourists passing through can’t help but be charmed by a furry friend following along through the mash tanks.
These days, even though mouse-hunting is not as necessary, Glenturret keeps a cat in residence. The latest in the line is Peat, “a 6-month-old fluff ball” who demonstrated great pounce prowess when approached with the microphone. The spirit of Towswer is strong within him. [NPR] [Photo: Flickr/Barclay & Fiona]