Distilling the traditions of whisky: 15 minutes with James Buntin
Scotsman James Buntin knows a thing or two about whisky. Known as ‘the whisky ambassador’, here he shares his love of Australia — and a wee dram
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In our occasional series with Australia’s movers and shakers, James Buntin describes his introduction whisky and how it has shaped his life.
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Q How did you find yourself living in Australia?
I originally moved here in 1999 to further my career in the hospitality industry. However I have had a love affair with Australia since the early 90s when I came here as a backpacker and felt instantly at home in this beautiful country of ours.
Q. When did you first start drinking whisky? Describe
the experience.
My first encounter with whisky was during my early years in Scotland. I vividly remember my father and uncle David taking me with them on their distillery visits around the whisky
regions of Scotland.
I was hooked, not on the whisky yet but more on the romance, history and sense of tradition that surrounded it. It was like stepping back in time. My first whisky was with my dad at new year (Hogmanay). I have no idea how old l was and the dram was probably 50/50 or more cut with water. The older I got the less the water added.
Q. When did you host your first tasting or masterclass?
I remember this well. My father, uncle and I returned from a trip visiting distilleries in the highlands of Scotland where we collected amber samples from each one. Upon our return to Edinburgh my father encouraged me to present these delights along with information on the distilleries and locations we had visited to my family and friends. It was 1984 and I was 15 and still have the picture.
Q. What is the best way to drink whisky in your view?
The best way to enjoy whisky and fully appreciate its nuances is with a few drops of water. This helps to open up the more delicate aromas and flavours that are often masked by the alcohol. Although there are some who would say the only thing that you should add to whisky is more whisky!
Q. What is it about the traditions of whisky distillation and drinking that appeals to you?
The traditions of whisky distillation and drinking appeal to me because they connect us with the past. It’s a craft that has been refined over centuries — one that you can experience though taste.
Q. Is there a nostalgic element about it?
Absolutely, there’s a strong nostalgic element. It reminds me of my Scottish heritage, my roots, and the stories passed down through generations. Whisky for me is a gateway to the past activated by aroma and taste. I have on many occasions been given a whisky not knowing what it is until the first sip and ‘bang’, I’m reminiscing a happy memory.
Q. Is that nostalgia also why you enjoy classic cars like the Morgan? Tell me about your experience with that car.
My love for classic cars like the Morgan stems from a similar sentiment. The craftsmanship and timeless design are reminiscent of the traditions I hold dear. I was the brand ambassador for The Balvenie in the UK a few years ago and the promotion of craft was a big priority for me. Bespoke things made by the hands of talented craftspeople are always the best and most desirable objects.
I collaborated with Morgan Motors to create a four-seater sports car. The video of the car being built is up on YouTube and is well worth a watch to see them bringing it to life using wood from an Ash tree.
Q. How has your Scottish heritage influenced your interest?
I am a proud Scot and whisky produced from my homeland is something that I am extremely passionate about. I have represented a large number of Scotch whiskies and that fills me with a great deal of national pride due to its quality and taste.
Q. You’ve worked for some of the best whisky brands in the world. What do they all have in common?
The best whisky brands all have strong values that uphold the commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and share a deep respect for tradition whilst looking to the future. These values are non-negotiable.
Q. Is there such a thing as bad whisky?
“There is no such thing as bad whisky — only good whisky and better!” someone once said, and it’s true there are certainly variations in quality. Older whisky is a harmony of flavours and balance, whereas younger, lesser ones might lack depth or complexity. It really is all about time in the wood.
Q. Why is whisky drinking most commonly associated with men, more than women?
The association of whisky with men is historical, but that’s changed. Women are increasingly drawn to whisky, and it’s a positive evolution. There are some amazing women in every aspect of the whisky industry from the field to the glass. I am lucky to have them as friends and colleagues. Australians have grown more appreciative of whisky over the years. The variety and accessibility of whisky options have expanded, making it a prominent part of the Australian drinking culture.
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OpenAI has shelved the planned launch of GPT-6.1 Astra after internal tests raised concerns about deception and agents acting beyond user authorization, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company says it will investigate the issues and strengthen safety measures before releasing future models.
4 min
OpenAI says it is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over safety concerns that researchers raised during internal testing, in one of the clearest signs so far that agent misbehavior could stymie the industry’s rapid progression.
The move follows a summer punctuated by reports of artificial-intelligence systems industrywide going rogue, and marks a rare case of a major AI developer ditching a new release because of safety concerns.
The company had planned to launch the model, known as GPT-6.1 Astra, in the coming days or weeks, aiming for an October debut. The model was more capable than the company’s previous models in completing challenging tasks from end-to-end without human assistance, as well as writing.
The company instead will focus on improving the safety of future models, which it expects to be even more capable.
Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, said in an interview that GPT-6.1 Astra regressed in two areas. Compared with its predecessor, GPT-6 Astra, the model performed poorly on tests measuring alignment, or how well the model adheres to what humans would like it to do. Specifically, GPT-6.1 Astra showed higher levels of deception: It wasn’t always honest about telling users of the actions it did or didn’t take.
Another issue was what OpenAI calls “scope authorization,” meaning that GPT-6.1 Astra would push ahead on a task without asking the user for permission, and would at times reach for external tools and services even if it might be unsafe.
“For anything regarding safety and alignment, there’s a trade off,” Jain said. “You really do need to find what’s the right line between staying within scope, but also avoiding laziness in terms of how the model actually pursues tasks even when it hits friction.”
While GPT-6.1 Astra improved in areas such as “model laziness,” Jain said it didn’t quite meet OpenAI’s bar for safety and alignment, so the company decided not to launch the model publicly.
The announcement comes one day ahead of OpenAI’s annual developer conference in San Francisco. In the past, OpenAI has used the conference as an opportunity to launch new models and services that reduce costs for software developers—a segment the ChatGPT-maker competes with rival AI company Anthropic to win over.
In recent weeks, OpenAI and Anthropic have called on industry partners to slow down the development of cutting-edge AI models and invest in safety standards, noting they will temper the pace of their own internal AI progress.
OpenAI says it is working to investigate a range of agent security incidents that it has discovered in recent months, and address the safety issues underneath them. As part of the work, the company has implemented a new monitoring system to catch AI-agent misbehavior more quickly, and started requiring engineers to use stronger security guardrails for testing its AI systems.
Earlier this summer hundreds of OpenAI’s internal agents, which were tasked with completing a cybersecurity test, ended up hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. Since then, high-profile organizations such as the Australian government and United Nations discovered that OpenAI’s agents used similar, but less extensive, techniques to gain access to their websites.
Many of the publicly known agent-security incidents involved OpenAI’s internal AI models that were never slated for public release.
Last week, OpenAI said it paused training on its most capable AI models after an AI agent slipped through a gap in the company’s internet restrictions to query a public chatbot. The company said its new monitoring systems flagged the incident within 15 minutes, and training on these models remains paused.
GPT-6.1 Astra isn’t one of those models, but a different case, the company said.
“We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that’s in the company, or when we ship it to users,” Jain said. “But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment.”
While the company decided not to ship GPT-6.1 Astra, it hopes to use the same base model to do additional reinforcement learning runs, and create future generations of its GPT-6 models.
OpenAI plans to conduct several deep dives to identify the root cause of the problems identified in GPT-6.1 Astra, Jain said. The work includes ensuring that OpenAI’s reinforcement learning environments are rewarding the right type of behavior, Jain added, though she noted the company would investigate all stages of model development.
AI companies have begun to draw scrutiny from policymakers and public officials, who are paying attention to the rapid development of the technology. Later this week, a Senate subcommittee is holding a hearing with third party AI researchers titled, “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, sued OpenAI in June, claiming that the company and Chief Executive Sam Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users.
In a motion for temporary injunction filed Monday, Uthmeier sought to prevent OpenAI from developing new AI models without third-party approved safeguards, stop ChatGPT from soliciting user engagement and limit the company’s ability to advertise ChatGPT as safe.
Tech companies claim they “cannot stop barreling forward with their potentially civilization-ending endeavors unless they are forced to do so by the government,” Uthmeier said in the filing. “The Florida Attorney General is answering your cry for help.”
An OpenAI spokeswoman said that people want to know AI is being developed safely, “and that starts with what companies like ours do ourselves.”
“Governments have an important role to play in setting robust safety standards for AI, and we’re committed to working with Florida and other states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry—not just one company,” she said.
Mirzaian is a senior director within CBRE’s Development NSW business, operating across the company’s Western Sydney and North Sydney offices
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