In one word? Awesome.

You want more than that you say?

It’s kind of hard to know where to begin. The events of the weekend before last have all converged into a bit of a blur. Not so much because of the alcohol, but rather the simply dizzying array of tastings, masterclasses, quizzes, meals and world-class whiskies which were thrust upon us over the course of the weekend… yet with all the activity, we came away feeling really rather impressed at just how relaxed and informal the weekend managed to be. More...

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a delivery driver so amused.

Literally the second the new bottling of the Noh Karuizawa Whisky walked through the door, the office broke out into a frenzy – photographers snapping, directors grabbing tasting glasses and falling upon the beautiful decanters like they contained the elixir of eternal life.

Such is the sense of anticipation and wonderment that surround all whiskies bottled by the Number one drinks company. This particular release is a 32yo Karuizawa from 1977 (Karuizawas before 1981 are revered as somewhat special because of their intense Umami-rich flavour), and it’s spectacular. It’s by no means a gentle giant at 32 years of age – we’d describe it more like being kicked in the face by an angry bosozoku than the peaceful tranquillity brought by Hanami (ed - d’you like that? Bit of Kulcha and that)…

Anywhoo, enough rambling, here are our tasting notes:

Nose: This dram opens with an olfactory delight of walnuts, chestnuts roasting in New York, pineapple and maple syrup. As it sits in the glass the nose develops stewed fruits in mulled wine, a slight note of autumnal bonfire and orange peel element and finishes on glacé cherries

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We’ve added some incredibly exciting spirits to our Drinks by the Dram sample service.

These include a brace of classic Speyside distilleries, some beautiful Bajan rums and a trio of cognacs.

Here’s a rundown of the new selection of samples, kicking off with William Grant’s legendary Balvenie and Glenfiddich distilleries.

Having their entire range in dram form is quite a coup, we’re sure you’ll agree… More...

World Exclusive: The Malt That Came in from the Cold

Yesterday, we received a mysterious email from Speyside’s own Glenfiddich distillery.

“We’re sending you something.”

And that was all... More...

It’s been a decade since the inception of the Ardbeg Committee (officially founded on the 1st January 2000). It’s also been ten years since the release of Ardbeg 10 Year Old, so 2010’s a pretty momentous year for the distillery - we’re sure you’ll agree.

True to form, Ardbeg have been putting on some fantastic celebrations to mark their reaching double figures. We were lucky enough to be invited to one such shindig at The Worx last Wednesday, and we wanted to recount what turned out to be a cracking evening... More...

With some great new products in, we decided to a do a quick tasting. We now stock a couple of Jefferson's bourbons, and this morning we put the eponymous whiskies through their paces.

Both were Gold Medal winners at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and both are produced by small batch distiller McLain & Kyne (notable as one of few Americans distilleries to spell whisky in the Scottish style - sans the 'E').

Both are also available as 3cl samples too...More...

Glenfarclas added a 40 year old to their core range this year. A bold move like this is testament to Glenfarclas’ incredible stocks, and most distilleries would struggle to maintain production of a core range 40 year old bottling.

It was set apart from the year’s other high end releases by two factors. One was quality; we’ve sung its praises before so we won’t go into too much detail, but suffice to say it’s a stunner! The second factor was price; most whiskies in this age range (particularly from stalwart premium distilleries like Glenfarclas) retail at a minimum of a grand. Amazingly, you can find Glenfarclas 40 at just £289 (from us of course!). More...

The American whiskey fraternity is enjoying the burgeoning success and ever-increasing popularity of a thing called craft-distilling. There’s always been something intrinsically exciting that surrounds artisan food and drink, and whiskey is no exception. In fact, the spirits industry is abuzz with new releases of wonderfully packaged and gloriously quaint bourbons and other American whiskeys and we thought we’d throw in our two cents. You see, whiskey really is a spirit of provenance and it requires great attention to detail. You simply can’t go about mass-producing the stuff without due care and diligence, and that’s exactly what the new breed of craft distillers are tapping into, and they’re creating some of America’s best exports. More...

The headlines have become rather depressing these days, filled with unscrupulous rogue traders and Brits abroad attempting to stem catastrophic oil spills with sporting goods and general bric-a-brac grade detritus. It’s all a tad bleak, so it’s a good thing you can always count on us to brighten your day with some whisky-related jollity. 

That’s right, more drams! 

Today we are excited to announce we now sell whisky samples from Compass Box and Ian Macleod (including a phenomenal selection from the Glengoyne distillery).More...

We made a pact… To boldly offer samples of what no online retailer has ever offered samples of before. We started with some old favourites, and had some pretty exciting stuff on offer (including some show-stopping Glenfarclas Family Casks), but we never had anything quite like this…

We’re proud to announce a fantastic foray into the world of ultra premium spirits. Now you can try 3cl samples of mindboggling whisky that, until now, very few people have had the great privilege to try.More...