Features - Page 17
Is Glenlivet better than Glenfiddich?Which is the best glen? Close? Campbell? Livet? Fiddich? It’s an intense debate that dominates every breakroom, common area, or coffee shop in the land. So, today, we will start…
Is Japanese whisky better than Scotch?“Is Japanese whisky Better than Scotch whisky?” Without a doubt it’s one of life’s great questions, up there with “should the chap in the Clash song have stayed or gone?”…
Our Jess moves on to pastures newIf you’re reading this blog, then you know Jess. You know her because she’s written for us for over five years. And because in the last couple of years, she…
The story of Clase Azul TequilaClase Azul is known for its beautiful decanters as much as the liquid inside them. This is luxury Tequila, the kind collectors love, the type that people pay the big…
The source of whisky’s flavourVanilla. Christmas cake. Baking spice. Orchard fruit. Oak char. Homemade apple pie. An autumnal bonfire. Pot-pourri. Old bookshelf must. Nail polish remover. The smell of yesterday’s cabbage and the ghost of last…
New Arrival of the Week: Aberfeldy 21 Year Old Malbec Cask Finish“I would hate to make a whisky that is boring”. Stephanie Macleod, director of blending, Scotch Whisky for Bacardi, has a lot of briefs and responsibilities when it comes to…
Is there a market for old whisky?Why, yes, there’s a market for everything… For example, in the year 2000, a slice of French toast, half-eaten by Justin Timberlake, sold on eBay for $1,025. Now obviously he…
There is a certain aura surrounding the very rarest of the rare… an allure… dare we say, a mystique? It could be a Rothschild Fabergé egg, some of that ‘white…
Why was bathtub gin dangerous?Before we dive into the murky world of bathtub gin, not literally, of course, we should take the time to differentiate between bathtub gin and Bathtub Gin. One is a…
A few years back I was at a literary festival giving a talk about booze history and someone in the audience asked where the current gin boom came from. Why…
Terroir: land vs bureaucracyFollowing on from our Scotch whisky regions article, we’re delighted to have a piece by Mark Reynier from Waterford in Ireland looking at how the whisky industry misuses the concept…
Why did whisky mean ‘water of life’ in Scotland?Where does the term whisky originate from? It derives from the Gaelic word uisge beatha (in Scottish Gaelic) or uisce beatha (in Irish Gaelic). It’s pronounced “ish-ka ba-ha” and they…
The story of the Irish whiskey renaissanceIreland was once the grand capital of whiskey. At one point in the mid-19th century, it boasted 88 licensed distilleries and countless more illicit producers. The largest distilleries in the…
What is bourbon made fromBourbon is the classic American whiskey, distinguished by its specific production requirements and geographic origins. To be legally labeled as bourbon, the spirit must adhere to several criteria, namely that…
What is the largest whisky distillery in the world?You’ve asked a big question and we’ve come back with an even bigger answer. One you can see from space, like Lard Lad from The Simpsons stretching out through the…
Midleton Very Rare: 40 years of Irish whiskey at its bestHow does a prestigious whiskey brand celebrate a 40th anniversary? With great whiskey, obviously. This year Irish Distillers gives us not only Midleton Very Rare 2024, but also the Midleton…
