When he compared Benromach’s approach to whisky making to the technique of reverse engineering, our tour guide Robert was only half-joking. Cause whatever the Forres-based distillery plans and wherever it heads, it always has one eye directed at the future (more…)
The fine folks at Glen Moray say about themselves that they are “not your usual Speyside distillery”. And indeed, the wonderful experience they provide is everything but ordinary. Neither are their prices: The 60-minute tour including two complementary drams (more…)
“This spirit can restore you / It’s the finest I have seen / With my own eyes / With my own eyes,” sings whisky bard Robin Laing in his beautiful piece “Macallan” from the acclaimed “Whisky For Breakfast” album. While I have already seen the cherished Speyside distillery’s excellent product (more…)
Japanese oak, also referred to as Mizunara oak, is probably the rarest component from which whisky barrels can be made. Due to the slow growth and knotted stature of the respective trees, the processing of this kind of wood requires excellent craftmanship (more…)
When I attended the “Day Of The 100 Open Bottles” at Pinkernell’s Whisky Market in Berlin last month, I tried more than half a dozen drams by Claxton’s. Their well-selected single cask whiskies rendered me so impressed that I took home not one but two bottles: (more…)
In a way, whisky blending is like alchemy. Cause just like the proto-scientists of yore, whisky blenders also create an elixir of life (“aqua vitae”), turn differing raw materials into gold (albeit in liquid form) and produce a universal solvent (if the blend is good, one sip is all it takes (more…)
Although he was the first Remarkable Malt to hit the market back in 2009, it took Big Peat quite a while until he received a special bottling with an age statement. However, after his friends Scallywag, Timorous Beastie and Rock Oyster had all spawned limited editions (more…)
Operating out of the County of York, British indie bottlers Claxton’s brought their first single cask whiskies to the market in early 2016. Despite the fact that they hit the scene more than two years ago, I only got acquainted with them recently. (more…)
The Vaults. That mythical place in the north of Edinburgh, where 35 years ago the world’s most illustrious whisky club – the Scotch Malt Whisky Society – was founded. Today, the former wine warehouse still serves as a high-class bar and meeting room for the Society’s members. (more…)
