With today’s Scotsman having a life expectancy of 77 you would expect your average Scottish octogenarian to be happy to take life easy, enjoying a short stroll in the park or a tea with some old friends.
Not so for Scotland’s newest and surely oldest entrepreneur, who at an age when most men consider a round of golf an major achievement, is preparing to launch his new company ‘The Toddy Man’ at the prestigious national food and drink event next week.
Now 81 years old, Watt Nicoll has already successfully filled a number of roles in his time - boy piping champion, speedway rider, a TV pet man, zoologist, folk singer, motivational guru, and even managing to bag a Miss Scotland along the way.
But it’s his latest adventure that is providing the spark and motivation to show a clean pair of heels to men half his age.
A serious chest infection recently saw him hospitalised and facing a long recovery, prompting him to consider his own miracle remedy.
“No matter where I went in life or what I achieved, there was always one constant by my side... A flask of Toddy crafted from recipes passed on to me by a favoured uncle - gamekeeper, story telling, soothsayer who had survived the great war with the loss of an eye and a determination to prove that the answer to everything lay in the soils of Scotland”
Refusing to lie down and suffer, Watt signed himself out with a flask of his ubiquitous Toddy to hand and a new resolve to share the secret of his success with the world
Watt will now launch four Hot Toddy ‘Concoctions’ to the trade at the Fine Food Show with the response so far being beyond even his wildest expectations.
“It's taken a wee while to get the recipes into a modern state of presentation and to secure some of the herbs and supplies but, at each stage, the feedback has been nothing short of phenomenal”
Watt says that with the UK caught in an epidemic of hacking coughs and seasonal sniffles the launch couldn’t come at a better time for the people struggling to face another day feeling under the weather however, he is also keen to convince that the Toddy is not just for colds and flus.
“Its a remedy, a pick me up, an aid to sleep, a restorative cup of comfort or just a big giant hug from your mammy. With a drop of whisky, or not, no matter what the ailment... It’s always Toddy Time!”
