For over 40 years, if you wanted a high-quality malt mill for your new whisky distillery then the best thing to do was buy a refurbished old one made by…
Master of Malt Blog
Author: Ian Buxton
Though he has neither a beard nor any visible tattoos or piercings, Ian Buxton is well-placed to write about drinks. A former marketing director of one of Scotland’s favourite single malts, his is a bitter-sweet love affair with Scotland’s national drink – not to mention gin and rum, or whatever the nearest PR is pouring. Once, apparently without noticing, he bought a derelict distillery. Follow his passionate, authentic hand-crafted artisanal journey on the Master of Malt blog. Or just buy his books. It’s what he really wants.
With some new legislation in the consultation process concerning the marketing of alcohol in Scotland, Ian Buxton takes a look at the often unhappy relationship between the Scotch whisky industry…
With the long-awaited whiskies from Blackwater in Ireland soon to be landing at Master of Malt, Ian Buxton talks to Peter Mulryan, the distillery’s outspoken founder about his problems with…
In the light of various steep price rises in whisky, naming no names, Ian Buxton takes a look at what’s behind the changes and suggests that things might not be…
Has the year of rum finally happened? Ian Buxton returns to look at the causes behind the increasingly glorious rum revolution occurring in spirits right now. A few years ago…
With rampant inflation, strikes, an energy crisis, and dysfunctional government, it’s starting to feel a lot like the 1970s. Yet the Scotch whisky industry is expanding rapidly. Does this mean,…
Ian Buxton returns to add The Whisky Barons to his Whisky Heroes series, and shed some light on how former Prime Minister David Lloyd George fits into the picture in…
AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the drinks business. But will the rise of the machines put highly skilled bartenders, blenders and other industry professionals out of business,…
As part of his series on whisky heroes, Ian Buxton takes a look at two pioneering writers on the subject, Alfred Barnard, author of The Whisky Distilleries of the United…
As part of our Fèis Ìle 2022 coverage, industry veteran and long term visitor to the island Ian Buxton reflects on how the romance of Islay is often very different…
As part of his series on whisky heroes, Ian Buxton celebrates three architects who defined how a distillery should look, Charles Doig, William Delmé-Evans and George Darge. There was a…
Today, Ian Buxton visits a tiny distillery on the Isle of Mull in Scotland called Whitetail making fine Scottish gin inspired by the local flora and fauna, specifically an enormous…
As part of his series on whisky heroes, Ian Buxton looks at the life of a man who transformed whisky and made the world domination of blended Scotch possible, Aeneas…
The drinks world proliferates with various masters like master blenders and master distillers. But do these terms have any validity or are they just marketing flimflam? Ian Buxton investigates. The…
As part of a new series on his whisky heroes, Ian Buxton takes a look at the man who pretty much invented whisky writing for the modern age, Michael Jackson. …
With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations coming up later this year, Ian Buxton looks at Royal Warrants and the long interlinked history between Scotch whisky and monarchy. Did you raise…
Love good quality Scotch but don’t want to spend too much on a bottle? Well, don’t overlook blended whisky, says Ian Buxton. From the big boys like Johnnie Walker and…
Ian Buxton returns with a look at two new distilleries, Arbikie and Inchdairnie, that may appear quite different but actually have a lot in common. Not least a common interest in…
Today, Ian Buxton returns to one of his favourite topics, buying whisky in cask. He’s come up with some tips to help you not to get scammed. Here are seven…
Ian Buxton returns to take a look at how Scotch whisky opened up. He remembers a time when master distillers were unknown and unreachable, and whisky production was a secret…