Outlander's Sam Heughan Tells Us Why He Wanted To Write Jamie A Letter Ahead Of The Final Season — EXCLUSIVE

As long as I've indulged in adult beverages, I've had a great distaste for two categories: rum, thanks to a fun-then-rough night of botellón during my semester abroad in Spain, let us never speak of it again; and Scotch, thanks to the fact that I prefer not to Napalm my tongue.

I know Scotch is cool. I know it's sophisticated. And because I've written about "Outlander" since its start, I know Scotch whisky is the preferred drink of both series hero James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser and Sam Heughan, the man who plays him. In fact, Scotland native Heughan has such a deep love for whisky that he started his own brand, The Sassenach, in 2021; he and business partner Alex Norouzi later started Galloway Distillery in 2025. (And yes, Scotch from Scotland is spelled "whisky" without the "e.")

Heughan knows spirits, and he knows Jamie Fraser. He also knows how deeply the Starz series' fans are invested in the show's upcoming eighth and final season. So Sassenach Spirits recently released The Jamie Fraser Collection, a commemorative bottle which includes a letter Heughan penned to his on-screen alter ego. 

To whet your appetite, here's an exclusive sneak peek at the start of the letter:

Dear Jamie,

I must admit that writing this feels surreal, foolish even, and yet you've been my companion this last decade. Silently standing by my shoulder (as Ian would), you've guided me on this epic journey. Is it strange that I see you not just as a character in Diana's incredible books but also as someone loved by many who has shaped my life. We've loved, lost and learnt at the same time. Your love of Claire and devotion to family was everything, a privilege (and a pain at times!) to share. What a gift!

So on that note, from myself personally and from all of us, I begin with a simple: "Thank You, Jamie."

When I catch up with Heughan for an exclusive chat about all of the above, he's home in Scotland — briefly — between shooting Apple TV's upcoming political thriller "Embassy" in Germany, and heading to the United States for the New York premiere of "Outlander." 

Given that filming of the time-travel drama wrapped in late 2024 — and the cast has done several press cycles since — I joke to Heughan that he's likely tired of talking about all of it. He says that shooting Season 8 was sometimes hard, "because literally every day, you're just like, 'Oh my God, this is the last time we'll do X, Y, and Z!'," the feeling is a bit different now that the premiere is a week away (streaming Friday, March 7, at midnight, and airing at 8/7c on Starz). 

"It's finally here," he says, adding that he feels ready now. "And I guess why [The Sassenach] release is so exciting for us, because it was actually something really personal that was not part of anything, other than I wanted to do it for myself." 

In the video above, Heughan gives us the lowdown on his spirited tribute to Jamie. In the conversation below, we talk about how "Outlander" paved the way for The Sassenach and how his letter to Jamie echoes one of the series' central motifs. And then, figuring I might as well give this whole Scotch thing one last try, I ask him to walk me through a tasting.

"You're going to do it now?" he asks, incredulous. It's 1:30 pm ET on a Friday afternoon, and I look him right in his verra blue eyes (via the Zoom window) as I open the bottle. "Wow," he says, chuckling. "Cheers."

Can Heughan make a Scotch lover of me? Read on.

TVLINE | Do you think you would have eventually gotten into spirits in some way, had you not been in "Outlander"? How much did being a part of this show accelerate that for you?
SAM HEUGHAN | Well, I mean, the day I got my audition for "Outlander," I was working behind a bar.I was working for a cocktail company in London [that was] employing lots of actors. I was a terrible barman — and I still am — but I was interested in it, because it's really creative. It's so fun to make something, like being a chef, you know? You'd get some ingredients, and you see what you can do. 

I don't know if I would have been able to create something quite so spectacular. Even opening the Galloway Distillery recently in my hometown, and being able to go back there and invest in the south of Scotland. I'm really I'm trying to do something that's going to take a long time, but to help generate excitement and an interest in in an area that's probably overlooked a lot. So, yeah, "Outlander" has given me that. It's given me the opportunity, but I probably would have been in spirits in some way — but definitely not to such a degree, that's for sure.

TVLINE | The special packaging for the final season edition of The Sassenach has a letter you wrote to Jamie. You and I spoke a long time ago about a letter David Berry wrote you, as Jamie, from Lord John. Are you the kind of actor who likes to do things like that, or was this letter a departure for you?
[Laughs as he holds up an object] I'm literally holding the wax that I sealed the letter with, and the sealer that we used in the shoot [of a behind-the-scenes video] is David's seal. It's Lord John, because I had several ordered with our my logo or Sam or Sassenach or whatever, and they didn't arrive. So I used Lord John Grey's for the video.

I guess it depends on the role, right?...  Even "Macbeth" that I did [with Royal Shakespeare Company] recently is very different to the way I approached "Outlander," or the show I'm doing now, "Embassy." But "Outlander" definitely was like coming home. I'd been away from Scotland for so long. Jamie's journey, at the jumping off point, was that he's also coming home from the French wars... He has no real home. His uncle is looking after him, but they're on the run. And then he meets this woman who's just — like, he sees, in her, the end of his life. He sees his fate in her, and his life is turned upside down. And my life was turned upside down, as well, through the show.

TVLINE | So you're not the only one who has props. I am not a Scotch girl. But here is my "Men in Kilts" Scotch glass, and if you'll indulge me, will you walk me through my first tasting of The Sassenach?
[Once Heughan gets past his surprise, he's all in, starting with the bottle's stopper.] That is real cork that we've sourced from Portugal, cut off a tree. There's so much in that. I like cork because it holds the flavor. It smells amazing. I don't want any artificial nonsense in there. It's so beautiful, the whole process of even growing it, and then harvesting cork is so interesting, but I think even the sound it makes is so evocative.

TVLINE | I love how you're like, "You've just sped through the most important part, but whatever."
[Chuckles] You can pour some, and then we're going to smell it. Pour a large measure. I love this. Jamie Fraser would have — [Side-eyes the small amount I've tipped into the glass]

TVLINE | Is that not enough? I want the training-wheels version for me.
Meager. But that's OK, because it's rare stuff. OK, so you've poured from our bottle, which is designed essentially like a decanter. It's also designed around what I loved about the Asian blends, but you know, obviously Scottish. We've got our unicorn on there, which is the national animal of Scotland. I literally was involved in every part of the process, from the labels to the bottles. Anyway! OK, so you've poured it in. You've got a beautiful glass, a nosing glass. You should be able to swirl it around first. [We discuss the alcohol by volume, which is 46%] I wanted that, because I like the weight on your tongue.

I like the flavor profile; it's intense. [Instructs me on how to smell it, and as many times as we've talked over the series' run, I'm fairly certain Heughan has never said "nostril" once, much less as many times as it comes up here] You'll get the barley in there, you'll get a lot of fruit flavor, dried fruit, fruits, butterscotch, apricot. This is a blend. It's based on a 21-year-old organic grain, single grain, and then a mix of a 12- and a 9-year-old single malt. So it is a blend, the most awarded blend in its class. It's beaten every other Johnny Walker nonsense, all of the other rubbish out there. The ones that are priced, you know, three times the amount of ours, in blind tastings across the world.

Give it a taste. Go on. [I do what the man says] I know you don't like Scotch. Now, the first taste is gonna be aggressive on your tongue, because your tongue is getting 46% alcohol. It's gonna feel warm. It's gonna go down. The finish is gonna be long. The second taste is where you're gonna taste it, because your tongue is like, "OK, I know what's going on."

TVLINE | All right, I'm going in for the second, but I will say: Normally the first taste is like, "I ate fire, how can I get the fire out of my face?," and that I did not feel that. This felt much smoother.
What you should get is something that's balanced, flavorful, lots of rich dried fruits, and then a sort of medium finish, and it should not in any way spike or be fiery or be lots of heat from alcohol. It is a beautifully balanced whiskey, it's my whiskey, it's what I love. It's been aged in Madeira casks with a cherry finish to it, and I honestly, it's just what I like to drink. [Laughs] The problem is I have now is that I don't really like drinking much else.

TVLINE | This is good. I don't like Scotch, but I enjoy this. 
Oh, thank you!

TVLINE | Back to the letter: Not to be too dorky about the show or the books, but the letters are such an important part of that story. It's how the characters stay connected when they're no longer with each other. 
Yeah, it's funny, because I came up with this concept, and we pitched it, and then suddenly everyone was writing letters for the end of "Outlander." And I'm like, "Wait a minute!" [Laughs] ... But also, the point is, you're absolutely right: In the show, there's a lot of letters. And in this final season, you'll see — we know Jamie has been told he's going to die. And he obviously has to find out whether or not that's true, and what the motives are behind that. But ultimately he's going to try to come to terms with it and perhaps put his affairs in order. So there are a lot of letters, and I felt like this feels very right to have a wax seal on the letter to end this one.