When whisky bard Robin Laing asked the audience “How many of you have Bruichladdich as their favorite distillery?”, several hands went up – including his own. And indeed, whether you are a die-hard fan or an occasional sipper, one thing you can hardly deny: The legendary Islay unit (more…)
Don’t let the header image fool you: While it reads “Whisky Festival 2018” on the glass, the photo was taken just a few days ago. Cause in early November 2021, the bi-annual dramming event at the iconic BorderShop in Puttgarden returned after a pandemic-caused break of almost two years. (more…)
For Iain Croucher, the founder and mainman of Scottish indie bottler North Star Spirits, whisky is a pretty simple thing. At the end of the day, he claims, a good bottling must only meet four criteria: It must be honest. It must be fun. It must be tasty. And it must be opened and shared. (more…)
On New Year’s Eve I am all for smoke – albeit in the glass and not in the air! One whisky brand that you can always count on in this regard is Octomore by Bruichladdich. Whenever a malt gets released under the Octomore banner, you can be sure that it is packed to the brim (more…)
On December 17, I turned on my computer and started Zoom to meet with more than 20 other whisky nerds from Germany and the Netherlands. Our pursuit: a virtual blind tasting with our common friend Basti, who is active on Instagram with the profile @WhiskyGermany. (more…)
Last year, I stumbled upon Whisky Week at Alsterhaus by happenstance. So I only caught the last day of the two-week event. This year I was better prepared. I had marked the dates way in advance and when the time had come, I went there not once or twice, but three times in total. (more…)
Located right next to where I live, the Weinquelle Lühmann shop in Hamburg is my favorite liquor store of all. It is there that I bought my first bottle of single malt Scotch whisky about four years ago (which was Jura’s wonderful Diurach’s Own, if I remember correctly). (more…)
In regard to its setting, line-up and atmosphere, the BorderShop Whisky Festival – which recently got rebranded as Whisky & Rom Festival – is unlike any other fair I ever visited. Last weekend, I went there for the third time. As always, I had an absolute blast strolling from booth to booth (more…)
“The north star always guides me, when winter skies are gray”, Manowar proclaimed in the opening verse of the sing-a-long hymn “Carry On” from their 1987 masterpiece “Fighting The World”. And just like the band’s lead singer Eric Adams, I also hope that the North Star will forever (more…)
“I’m sorry, guys. But when you buy a bottle like this and keep it to yourself rather than share it with your friends, you’re a loser”, said The Whisky Jack’s Gearoid O’Callaghan last Thursday, when he popped the cork off the Octomore 08.1 (more…)
BarleyMania | Whisky & Whiskey 